Don't apologize Rick. We all need to be aware of the scamsters out there. Plus, it's an interesting thread to follow!! Regards, Mary Edwards Librarian Art Institute of California - Los Angeles 2900 31st Street Santa Monica, CA 90405 310-314-6154 meedwards@edmc.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Rick Anderson Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 1:11 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Apologies (RE: [SERIALST] The Return of Mrs. Larson (RE: Scam alert) Sorry, folks -- that was obviously meant to be a private message. ---- Rick Anderson Dir. of Resource Acquisition University of Nevada, Reno Libraries (775) 784-6500 x273 rickand@unr.edu > -----Original Message----- > From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum > [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Rick Anderson > Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 1:01 PM > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > Subject: Re: [SERIALST] The Return of Mrs. Larson (RE: Scam alert) > > Thanks, Susan. I'd be shocked if it actually came to that -- partly > because I don't think I've said anything actionable, and > partly because > the last thing these guys want is to face anyone in a > courtroom. Though > I confess to being surprised that she went to the trouble to call me > this morning -- her smartest move would have been to sit tight and be > quiet. Ah, well. > > Rick > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum > > [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Susan E. Sturgeon > > Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 12:47 PM > > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > > Subject: Re: [SERIALST] The Return of Mrs. Larson (RE: Scam alert) > > > > Rick - Keep up the good work. I will contribute to your > defense fund > > if need be. Susan > > > > > > On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 11:59:00 -0800 Rick Anderson > > <rickand@UNR.EDU> wrote: > > > > > Hi, everyone -- > > > > > > For those who might be interested in hearing the latest > in the "Mrs. > > > Larson" saga: On December 17 I posted a message alerting > > readers of this > > > list to the possibility that they might receive aggressive > > phone calls > > > from a woman identifying herself only as "Mrs. Larson" and > > claiming to > > > represent a company to which the library owes money. > > > > > > The woman who calls herself "Mrs. Larson" (but refuses to > > provide her > > > full name) apparently saw that posting today and left a voicemail > > > message for me this morning. She was very irate. She > > claims that she > > > never told me Pentium Capital was a law firm (she now says > > that it's a > > > collection agency), and said that my posting was full of > > lies. She also > > > says that she's going to forward my posting to the Federal Trade > > > Commission and the Better Business Bureau. Some of the > > other things she > > > said were syntactically incoherent, but if I understood some of it > > > correctly, she did mention that she had not originally > > called on behalf > > > of the American Directory Listing Service, so be on the > lookout for > > > calls from her on behalf of some other company. > > > > > > After receiving that message, I did another Google search > > to try to find > > > any trace of a company called Pentium Capital. I still > > found nothing. > > > However, when I called "Mrs. Larson"'s phone number following our > > > conversation on 12/17 I was able to get the receptionist to > > tell me what > > > physical address I would use if I were going to send a UPS > > shipment to > > > her company, and the address she gave me was 2660 20th St., > > Port Huron, > > > MI, 48060. As it turns out, a company called DHL Danzas > > Air & Ocean has > > > its offices at that address. When I called that company, > > they said that > > > they have no record of any dealings with a company called Pentium > > > Capital -- however, they do handle postal returns for a > > company called > > > (wait for it...) American Directory Listing Service. The > > person I spoke > > > with at DHL Danzas is doing some investigation. > > > > > > By the way, the phone number that "Mrs. Larson" gave me is > > a Canadian > > > number (514-693-5171; her extension is 355). When I > called it again > > > today and tried to get the receptionist to give me the > > address of the > > > office in which she works, she refused. When I asked her > > again to tell > > > me the names of the six companies that she says have > > offices there, she > > > told me she was "very busy" and put me on hold. > > > > > > When "Mrs. Larson" called me again today, one point on > which she was > > > emphatic was that I was going to be hearing from her > > personal attorney, > > > since I have made public statements about her that she finds > > > objectionable. I called her back and she didn't answer her > > phone, so I > > > left her a voicemail message saying that if she would give > > me her full > > > name, explain the nature of her business with my library, and > > > substantiate whatever claims she may have on our money, I > > will happily > > > and publicly retract my earlier characterization of her as > > a probable > > > scam artist. I'll let you know if I get a response. > > > > > > Incidentally, since I sent out that posting on 12/17 I've > heard from > > > several people outside the library profession who have had similar > > > dealings with "Mrs. Larson" and the companies she > > represents. (These > > > companies do not only target libraries -- they also go after small > > > business owners.) > > > > > > ---- > > > Rick Anderson > > > Dir. of Resource Acquisition > > > University of Nevada, Reno Libraries > > > (775) 784-6500 x273 > > > rickand@unr.edu > > > > ------------------ > > Susan Sturgeon > > Serials Librarian > > Salem State College Library > > 352 Lafayette St. > > Salem, MA 01970 > > (978) 542-6765 > > susan.sturgeon@salemstate.edu > > > > > > > > Email: susan.sturgeon@salemstate.edu > > Salem State College > > >
