'Fraudulent' offers target newspaper readers

The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, in a page-length ad targeted to readers, say unknown operators are targeting subscribers with "fraudulent renewal and new order notices for their subscriptions."

These junk-mail offers, sent through the U.S. mail, are arriving "under different company names, such as Readers Payment Service, Associated Publishers Network, Publisherpayment.com, Unitedpubex.com, Orbital Publishing Group, Publishers Billing Exchange, United Publisher Service, and Magazine Billing network, and others. We have no relationship with any of these companies," wrote circulation vice president Ed Delfin and customer service manager Lori Dowling in the papers' notice to subscribers.

The papers say they have reported this fraud to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office and other law enforcement. But apparently they are still in business: A visit to the Web site the offers are using, www.publisherspayment.com, accepted the early stages of my application to pay for the Inquirer and only balked when I didn't supply a credit card number.

LA Times reports similar campaigns targeting it and other big newspapers have charged readers up to 40% more than the actual subscription price. Which fits the story a customer service rep told me when I called the 800 number at the publisherspayment.com Web site: He said his office didn't represent the Inquirer; rather it was accepting subscription applications and fees and re-selling them to independent third party agencies, who he said are free to take would-be readers' credit card payments and use them to fill out real subscription applications with the papers.

By charging the reader extra, there could be enough to pay a cut to the marketer and a cut to the order-filler. If the offer is legit.

The real Inquirer and Daily News bill to their real address without all the middlemen: Philadelphia Media Network (Newspapers) LLC, PO Box 13942, Philadelphia, PA 19101-3942.