Letter from Strickland Penn about free airline tickets
I received a comment on a previous post about the same letter with the name of “Strickland Penn.” (See other posts here.) Please comment if you received one.
It tells you that you have qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets. It says to call 1-866-951-5595. It looks like it was actually signed by Denise Laye, the Vice President of the Travel Awards Division.
The www.stricklandpenn.com website exists. Here’s the whois info: http://www.whois.net/whois/stricklandpenn.com — registered August 12, 2010.
They hand write the address on the envelope and use a real stamp.
I have found the answers to this mystery thanks to the great work of the folks at BBB in Tucson, AZ:
http://www.bbb.org/tucson/business-reviews/travel-clubs/southwest-travel-club-in-tucson-az-20007983
http://www.bbb.org/tucson/business-reviews/prize-promotions/patterson-bell-in-tucson-az-20027549
An actual story: http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12741861
I am the proud recipient of a replica of this letter with the name of Madden Hall. See my earlier blog post about that letter.
Here are some things that seem to be related in some way:
http://www.livevideo.com/video/698198A85E6F4ADBA4C863FB53CD959F/strickland-penn.aspx
http://www lose 10 pounds fast.in.com/videos/watchvideo-strickland-penn-9421311.html
Notice anything similar to lexingtonduke.com with these?
Garrison Finley: http://www.garrisonfinley.com/
Sampson Phelps: http://www.sampsonphelps.com/
Burton Malone: http://www.burtonmalone.com/
Maddox Wright: http://www.maddoxwright.com/
Harris Fields: http://www.harrisfields.com/
Hamilton Gates: http://hamiltongates.com/ (http://twitter.com/hamiltongates)
Madden Hall: http://maddenhall.com/ (http://twitter.com/maddenhall)
Davidson Powell: http://davidsonpowell.com/ (http://twitter.com/davidsonpowell)
Nicholson Barnes: http://www.nicholsonbarnes.com/ (http://twitter.com/nicholsonbarnes)
Warner Rowe: http://www.warnerrowe.com/ (http://twitter.com/warnerrowe)
Larson Keller: http://www.larsonkeller.com/ (http://twitter.com/larsonkeller)
Foster Simmons: http://www.fostersimmons.com/
Robinson Rhodes: http://www.robinsonrhodes.com
Stanton Carney: http://www.stantoncarney.com/
Swanson Carr: http://www.swansoncarr.com/
Morrison Banks: http://www.morrisonbanks.com/
Stanton Carney: http://www.stantoncarney.com/
Zimmerman Cain: http://zimmermancain.com/
Thompson Fuller: http://www.thompsonfuller.com/
Shelton White: http://sheltonwhite.com/
Gilbert Turner: http://gilbertturner.com/
Richardson Blake: http://www.richardsonblake.com/
Sutton Perry: http://www.suttonperry.com/
Chapman Lane
Sullivan Lang
Spencer Burns
Hammond Reed
Lambert Steel
Peterson Burke
Watson Brooks
Bradley Tate
Stevens Cole
Hudson Stone
Hoffman Sims
Patterson Bell
Emerson Ross
Welsh McCormick
Jefferson Greer
Henderson Gill
Here are some other links to info these folks:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/bbbconsumeralert/tag/airline-ticket/
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2027392
http://willbradyjournal2.blogspot.com/2010/07/scams-nicholson-barnes.html
Someone is not happy:
Oh look what someone posted about me anonymously, of course: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5201222/brian_morris_tech_fraud/
TEXT:
(Please help me post a copy of the letter and envelope here.)
I am pleased to inform you that you have qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets. Congratulations. These tickets are valid for travel anywhere in the Continental U.S. The retail value of this award is up to $1,400.00. Certain restrictions apply.
We have attempted contacting you several times without success. This is our last attempt. If we do not hear from you soon, we may need to issue the ticket vouchers to the alternate.
Please call me today at 866-951-5595.
Regards,
Denise Laye
Vice President, Travel Awards Division
info@stricklandpenn.com — www.stricklandpenn.com
????? at the bottom
I recieved a letter from “STRICKLAND PENN” as well. I don’t think the BBB has any legal ability to shut down what appears to be a scam. You would need to report this to your Attorney General for the state. They have the power to subpeona etc.
It appears to be a scam, but according to the BBB link on this post, they look to stay barely legal. Making up these fake company names seems to warrant some sort of investigation.
I received the exact same letter. I guess I would like to know what the catch is, but I do not want to call them and get their speel. Has anyone called them back?
Check out the BBB link for how it works.
Just received the exact same letter today from STRICKLAND PENN stating that I have qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets.
Isn’t it interesting that nothing negative appears via Google search, but you are #1 on both Bing and Yahoo. E. Tn. also. Thanks for your work.
Very interesting, indeed. I hadn’t tried that.
We just received the exact same letter, with the exact same phrasing yesterday. Funny, they NEVER attempted to contact us previously.
Scam, maybe; shady, VERY.
ditto. Exactly. I’m sending this to Clark Howard to see if he might post it on his site. thanks for your words just to confirm my suspicions. RB
Just recieved mine last night & called them a few minutes ago. Curiosity was killing me! Since I didn’t see where anyone else had called, I had too. They say they are a new travel company that will be competing with expedia,etc… Luxury Travel Promotions.Com. Office @ 624 Grassmere Park Suite 9, Nashville,TN 37211. Booked an appt. for Sat. for my spouse(who I don’t have)& I. All I have to do is bring our picture ID’s & SHOW a major CREDIT CARD! I of course will not attend but they gave me another phone # to call the day before to confirm. 1-866-951-8030. If you call this # they give you another award with your tickets. Yeah right! They say it will be a presentation with light refreshments & other couples. May drive by there this week just to see what this address really is. Probably one of those offices you can rent by the month?
I did block my # when I called. Maybe someone else could get more info from what I have provided. Usually you can do a reverse look up with address & phone #. Maybe BBB would know something from their name. All I know is that I will not be going anywhere with my credit card in hand!
That’s great!! Read the BBB link in the post for what they do next. They change their name all the time to keep the BBB off their case. Are you sure you don’t want to scope it out??
I received the same letter today. There was a travel agency by another name calling my home repeatedly a while back. They left me voice mails ALL the time. I finally called back to tell them to stop calling. I believe this is related. The letterhead doesn’t even look legit. There was no return address on the envelope either.
Thanks folks for all the info. Everyone knows there “ain’t no free lunch.” My wife and I are 30+ year vetrans of the airline industry. . . smelled something bogus, but -like many others- did not want to make the call, but curiosity was killing us. Thanks again.
I received a letter with the same content signed by Jacqueline Pope, Vice President from a company named Lexington Duke.
I first called 1-866-963-7205 and now I have to call 1-866-951-8030 to confirm. I think I will pass on this because nothing in life is free! But curiousity was peeked especially because the letter had a real stamped and was personally addressed to me.
I will be researching with the Ohio Attorney General’s office and the BBB.
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus must be the new market for “Lexington Duke”! I just got the letter today. Smelled fishy, so I googled it and your website came up. THANK YOU for all the info! My husband was actually close to believing this was true. I have filed a scam report with the Ohio Attorney General. Not sure if they can do anything, but it’s worth making people aware.
Got the same wording letter but its from “Lexington Duke” and the phone number is 1-866-963-7223 ending regards Jacquiline Pope
I received the same letter about ticket. Looked to good to be true. Thank you for the post.
I just received the letter from “Lexington Duke” today. Everything matches that of what has been stated previously. I live in Illinois. My letter is dated Sept. 13th.
We got the exact same letter from Strickland Penn. We called and had the same conversation with them…show up tomorrow for a tour and presentation and have 2 forms of ID and a major credit card. Thanks for having this website…we are not going anymore! Jerks.
We just rec’d a letter too from Denise Laye –it’s not really hand signed – that’s just the magic of good printers and a signature scanned and entered as an image onto their form letter.
My husband received a letter today from “Lexington Duke.” The letter appears to be signed by Jacqueline Pope the alleged “Vice President of the Travel Awards Division.” The letter was hand addressed and also dated September 13th. We are in Nashville, TN. I immediately thought it was a scam seeing as how they claim to be “the leading incentive management agency in the country.” Yet, I could find very little about their company. Then, I thought they might be a start up company, but the lack of contact information available on the website as well as the lack of a return address seems quite odd if you are a new company attempting to get your name out there.
Just received identical letter as above in Tennessee. Lexington Duke was the name on this letter, phone was 866-951-8033.
9-18-10. I just received two letters both with handwritten address on the outside, no return address. Inside, both letters were exactly like the one on this post. They are both from Lexington Duke. Both signed (in very different handwriting)by J. Pope.
Thanks for this post! Now I can stop wondering…
We just received letter today, Jacqueline Pope signature…
I also just received “THE LETTER” today from LEXINGTON DUKE! It is dated 9-13-2010, live in ILLINOIS and for the amount of $1400.00, signed by J Pope.
DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS LETTER! If it appears too good to be true-
Hi, got the same letter from Lexington Duke. I’m in Knoxville TN. Anything requiring your photo ID and credit card info just to HEAR the presentation is definitely fishy.
Dear sweet generous Jacquline Pope sent me a letter also in Springfield TN.
Yep there it is ! A free Airline tickets and no catch.
Really ?? How nice !
I got the same thing in the mail today, it looks to be handwritten with no return address and to contact before Sept. 15 or they will give them to the alternate. This letter came from stickland Penn signed by Denise laye. I am not calling because I got something like this before and I never believe anything to do with vacations, travel, or cruises because of the previous things I have gotten in the mail. I have called prior because I was curious and it’s always a scam!
Received the exact letter also.
Just got off the phone with Marcus at 866.963.7274 x50. My letter came from Harris Fields. http://www.harrisfields.com signed by Lisa Max.
Fishy, scammy, not on the up and up. It strikes me as a program similar to those buying clubs like Direct Buy. Go to a meeting, sit through a presentation and then the hard sell begins.
I booked the appointment but will not attend. NO ONE asks for a credit card as identification.
Got the same letter, but mine was from Harris Fields and signed by Lisa Max.
Got ours yesterday only from Strickland Penn. Everything else is the same as everyone else, too good to be true, so Googled it and this website showed up. Thanks for all your help!
Got two different letters, one from Jacqueline Pope, Lexington Duke & one from Denise Laye, Strickland Penn. Of course both are going into the garbage. I live in Pittsburgh, PA..
I just got the same letter, in the Columbus OH vacinity
This is from a Company Called “Anderson Pratt”
Hand Addressed Envelope,
no return address on outside
Postmarked in Phoenix AZ
dated 14 October
hand signed by Tina Rose
Vice President
Travel Awards Division
Letter inside dated 11 October
Letter said to call number 866 962-1025
and to reply no later than October 20th or they would have to give my tickets to the next recipient in line….GO AHEAD…
never called
I knew it was a .., but this website confirms it
they also said they have tried to contact me several times previously
HA
We also recently got this letter, also from Anderson Pratt. I Googled them first; they set up promotions; maybe sleazy, but maybe ok, so I called them. The information they gave me put a distinct odor of seafood in the air. They included a reference to luxurypromotions.com. Searching for info on them indirectly led me here.
I can’t help but wonder, when will deliberate … like this be put down?
Got the letter today from Sampson Phelps, signed by Linda Moss. I went to there website, because the letter said that they were in NYC, Chicago, and LA, but, alas, there was no mention on their website of being in any of those locations.
I called to ask to be removed from the mailing list, as I am already on the do not call list, so I never did hear from them. The lady on the other end explained that they want to do a presentation, since they don’t advertise and this was the only way to get their name out. Long story short, it sounded TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, so I declined a repeated invitation.
Got the letter today, exact same wording as above. From garrison finley, signed by Lynn hess. Real website, but very vague purpose statement. Called the number, spoke to John, told the same story as everyone else. Asked to attend a couples mtg at suite 9, 624 grasses park drive, Nashville, tn 37211. Did not say anything about bringing an id or credit card. Offered extra incentive to attend this week. Asked for email to confirm offer. Won’t be going. Thanks for the posts!
This scam has made it to the greater Detroit area. I Just received the letter today from Garrison Finley, signed by Lynn Hess. I googled it, and I found this website! A BIG thank you to Brian! I was very suspicious, as there was no return address on the envelope, it was mailed from AZ (and they don’t have a location there), and the letterhead looked very unprofessional. Thank You to everyone who submitted their story, maybe this will save many more innocent people!
I live in Knoxville, TN. My letter is different from the ones above in some ways, but the idea is exactly the same. It has a tear off portion that says “US Airlines” with a logo and a slogan, “Fly the US Skies.” What is “US Airlines”?! I have heard of “US Airways,” an air carrier, but not US Airlines,” some generic name with a slogan and logo. What’s with that?!
The tear-off portion says “AWARD NOTIFICATION.” It also says “FINAL NOTICE.” It is from “645–HH.” There is a claim number: “Bu-16694.” There is a call back number: (1-866-995-7049). In the “Re” section, it says: “Award: 2 Roundtrip Airline Tickets.”
Then there is a box that says: “Awards Department Division” and another which says: “OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS,” and another which says: “NOTIFICATION,” and another which says: “AWARDS DEPARTMENT,” and another which says, “NO: 0412 –ISSUED–,” and a box with “Registered Winner Address and Zip Code” adn our address and my wife’s name on it.
All of that is on the first tear off portion on one side. On the other side of that first tear-off portion is another set of boxes. One box looks very strangely like a box on a W-2 form! It has “2010,” and that is the portion that you see when you get the thing in the mail! It looks like a W-2! There is a box that has “Presorted U.S. Postage PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 324.” Another box says, “OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED” and says, “These documents are on record as being sent to you. Please verify all information enclosed as current and correct.” Another box has a series of meaningless numbers and blanks with a note at the bottom, “This is not a government document” (hence the look of a W-2). Finally, there is a box that has our address and my wife’s name, and a black zone at the bottom with the words: “Notice Urgency: EXTREME.”
All of the preceding represents the front and back of the tear-off portion, the first tear-off portion anyway.
Now, the middle section on the same side as the second side of the tear-off portion says, “PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL” with a series of pink rectangles following and then a black and white box of dots and such. The other side of the middle portion contains a letter much like the one posted above. It says in the letter: “We have attempted contacting you several times.” That is not true. There is no record of their previous attempts to contact us.
Another part of the letter states in bold: “This will be your last chance to respond.”
The claim number is stated again.
There is a “NOTE:” which reads, “This is not a timeshare or land sales offer.”
Finally, it is signed as follows:
“Sincerely,
Awards Department
1-866-995-7049”
Then, there is this: “Call us at 1-866-995-7049 to claim your 2 round trip airline tickets worth up to $1,400 today!”
Finally, there is another tear off portion at the bottom with a “Flight Coupon” and a section that says “BOARDING PASS” and a bunch of other boxes including a section with my wife’s name and address.
It even includes the words: “Passenger ticket and baggage check.”
They put a bunch of silly numbers and letters on it to make it look like an electronic ticket. It even has the departure and arrival times!
The back side of this “ticket” says, “must be certified to be valid” and contains a bar code.
I would love to get a scan or picture (or fax or mail) of this.
BTW, I called them and got an automated response that identified the place I called as “Travel Awards Division” and then began to try to connect me. I hung up. In just a moment, my phone rang. It was them saying that I called their number. I asked them questions. They said that tomorrow is the earliest appointment they had for my wife and I to view their facilities and see their products as they are a new travel agent in town wanting to get word-of-mouth out there. They mentioned Expedia and Travelocity. They said to arrive 15 minutes prior because “they begin serving promptly at 6:00pm.” I suppose they have refreshments or dinner of some kind. Anyway, they said only a select few were chosen in Knoxville. I live in a huge apartment complex. I went up to our common mailbox area and looked in the trash can. I didn’t see any other notices, but the trash was emptied this morning. The mail man came after I was up there for today. So, the notice was sent on Saturday, probably, and I have been out of town for several days. I can’t say whether or not everyone in our complex receied one. I don’t know how they got our information, whether it was random selection or if they got our name off of a mailing list. They said that I would have to bring a ID and a major credit card, not a debit card, and the card would never leave my hand. They just need to verify that the names match. They also wanted to confirm that the combined income of my wife and I was greater than $50,000 a year. I thought about going and covering up my credit card number with my thumb and leaving only my name exposed in case they have speed-readers. Yet, after typing all of this, it seems ridiculously obvious to me now that this is a scam, and I don’t want to go now.
Hi guys, thanks for the good ground work!
I have added the link to my google docs for the scan here:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bzq0pAfyq79PZjNiNzg5OGUtZTM4Ni00NWU0LWFiMWYtZGNmM2RjOGNkMWMw&hl=en&authkey=CIa2jOEM
Hope it works it is public now 🙂
I live in Peoria, AZ. My letter is a little different but the idea is exactly the same. It has a tear off portion that says “US Airlines” with a logo and a slogan, “Fly the US Skies.” What is “US Airlines”?! I have heard of “US Airways,” an air carrier, but not US Airlines,” some generic name with a slogan and logo. What a bunch of CRAP!
The tear-off portion says “AWARD NOTIFICATION.” It also says “FINAL NOTICE.” From: 645–HH. There is a claim number: “Dk-xxxx.” There is a call back number: (1-866-207-3427). In the “Re” section, it says: “Award: 2 Roundtrip Airline Tickets.”
Then there is a box that says: “Awards Department Division” and another which says: “OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS,” and another which says: “NOTIFICATION,” and another which says: “AWARDS DEPARTMENT,” and another which says, “NO: 0412 –ISSUED–,” and a box with “Registered Winner Address and Zip Code” adn our address and my wife’s name on it.
All of that is on the first tear off portion on one side. On the other side of that first tear-off portion is another set of boxes. One box looks very strangely like a box on a W-2 form! It has “2011,” and that is the portion that you see when you get the thing in the mail! It looks like a W-2! There is a box that has “Presorted U.S. Postage PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 324.” Another box says, “OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED” and says, “These documents are on record as being sent to you. Please verify all information enclosed as current and correct.” Another box has a series of meaningless numbers and blanks with a note at the bottom, “This is not a government document” (hence the look of a W-2). Finally, there is a box that has my address and my legal name, and a black zone at the bottom with the words: “Notice Urgency: EXTREME.”
All of the preceding represents the front and back of the tear-off portion, the first tear-off portion anyway.
Now, the middle section on the same side as the second side of the tear-off portion says, “PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL” with a series of pink rectangles following and then a black and white box of dots and such. The other side of the middle portion contains a letter much like the one posted above. It says in the letter: “We have attempted contacting you several times.” That is not true. There is no record of their previous attempts to contact us.
Another part of the letter states in bold: “This will be your last chance to respond.”
The claim number is stated again.
There is a “NOTE:” which reads, “This is not a timeshare or land sales offer.”
Finally, it is signed as follows:
“Sincerely,
Awards Department
1-866-207-3427″
Then, there is this: “Call us at 1-866-207-3427 to claim your 2 round trip airline tickets worth up to $1,400 today!”
Finally, there is another tear off portion at the bottom with a “Flight Coupon” and a section that says “BOARDING PASS” and a bunch of other boxes including a section with my name and address.
Scam! Scam! SCAM!!! SCAM!!! SCAM!!!
February 28, 2012
Just received the bogus “Official document.” Presort permit # 324, Oklahoma City. I can’t believe their are enough people willing to give these scumbags money enough to make this a worthwhile enterprize for years and years. If I can spot this as a scam with just one look and you can see it is a fraud with just one look, what are postal inspectors doing to earn their money. What they are doing is a federal offence and perhaps should fall under Homeland Security.
Same as above from Bob L, from “xxx-HH”, except there’s a new phone number: 866-874-8264.
No, I don’t plan to call it to find out who or what it is, unless I can find a pay phone
somewhere.
Isn’t there some way to track down who has that presort permit?