Why a Greeting Card Catalog Is Worth a Privacy Check The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 101,068 fraud complaints from adults aged 60 and older in 2023, totaling $3.4 billion in losses — an average of $33,915 per victim, up roughly 11% from 2022. A loss that size rarely starts cold. It starts with a …

When a Catalog Mailing List Outlives the Catalog Picture an older adult who ordered once, years ago, from a mail-order sleep-and-bedding catalog — then gets a call from someone who already knows their name, their address, and that past purchase. That prior-purchase detail is what makes the pitch sound legitimate, and …

The Privacy Risk Behind a RadioShack Order Picture a retiree who orders a replacement radio battery or a set of hearing-aid batteries from a familiar electronics brand — a name, a shipping address, and a phone number entered once at checkout. Months later, mail starts arriving from companies that retiree never …

The Privacy Risk Behind a Spring Hill Nurseries Order A gardener fills out a mail order for a handful of perennials — a name, a shipping address, sometimes a phone number and a credit card, entered once to get plants delivered by spring. That order doesn't stay a one-time transaction. Under the terms a retailer sets …

The Gift-Occasion Privacy Risk Behind a GiftTree Order When a company sends a client a holiday gift basket, or a family member orders a gourmet gift box to be delivered to someone else's door, the address that reaches GiftTree frequently belongs to a person who never created an account, never agreed to a privacy …

The Gift-Occasion Privacy Risk Behind a Cookies by Design Order Most catalog mail enters a household's mailing list because the person receiving it placed the order. A Cookies by Design order often works differently — a friend, relative, or employer buys a cookie bouquet or gift tower for a birthday, a new baby, a …

The Privacy Risk Behind a Galls Catalog Order Most guidance on catalog mail treats every subscriber list as interchangeable — a name, an address, a purchase category. A Galls catalog request breaks that pattern. Galls is a mail-order and online catalog retailer marketing tactical gear, uniforms, and public-safety …

The Privacy Risk Behind a PetSmart Catalog Order The moment PetSmart processes a catalog order, a name and address enter that retailer's customer file — and in the direct-marketing industry, a customer file is a monetizable business asset from the instant it exists, not a private record that stays confined to the …

The Privacy Risk Behind The Wine Club Catalog The Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for 2023 recorded more than $10 billion in consumer fraud losses and roughly 2.6 million fraud reports that year, with identity theft consistently among the most-reported categories. Physical mail is part of …

The Donor Privacy Risk Behind an Opera San Jose Subscription Buying a season subscription or making a donation to a regional opera company puts a household on a different kind of mailing list than a retail catalog does — but the list still moves the same way once it leaves the organization's hands. Opera San Jose is a …