Fraudulent Agent

How Can I Tell If I Am Being Scammed by Someone Posing as a Subscription Agent of Fermentation?

Example of a scam renewal mail piece below:

Renewal Mailing Scam

We have received many complaints about an unauthorized company targeting our subscribers with an invalid renewal offer. The company typically shows a return address with a P.O. Box in White City, Ore., or 610 E. Bell Rd. #494, Phoenix, AZ.

The company uses the following aliases:

• Publisher Payment Center
• Publishers Billing Exchange
• Publishers Distribution Services
• Circulation Billing Services
• Periodical Billing Services
• Magazine Billing & Collection Service
• Magazine Billing Services

We are not affiliated with this company. We do not know how the scam artists obtain the mailing lists they use to victimize subscribers. If you receive one of these offers, please disregard the renewal and toss it out. You may contact our Customer Care staff directly if you have any questions or would like to renew your subscription directly at:

• 1-800-456-5835
• Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Central Time
• Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Central Time
• Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 1-785-274-4300

In addition, you can renew directly with Fermentation online by visiting:
https://www.myfermentation.com/subscriptions/renew

This fraudulent company is based in White City, Ore., or Phoenix, Ariz. The individuals running this renewal scam pose as subscription sales agents for Fermentation and other magazine publishers. They illegally contact our readers, charging well more than a typical renewal, and then they pocket a large percentage as their “commission.”

They operate strictly through the postal service and do not contact subscribers by telephone or email.

Please be wary of companies that collect magazine subscriptions and renew them as a third-party agency. Any mailed renewal notice from Fermentation will always display the magazine logo and ask that payments be sent to our customer service center in Topeka, Kan.

What can you do?

• Do not pay for the offer contained in these solicitations.
• If you know other Fermentation subscribers, make sure they know about this illegitimate offer.
• If you’ve been victimized by this scam, demand a refund by calling the fraudulent agency’s customer service department at 1-800-456-5835. Be sure to request that your name and address be removed from their mailing list.
• If you have already paid, you MAY be able to work with your bank or credit card company to stop the check or reverse the charges. There is no guarantee of success in this as each creditor will have their own policy for handling this situation.
• File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
• File a complaint online with the Oregon Attorney General’s office Oregon Department of Justice
• Call the Oregon Attorney General Fraud Hotline toll free 1-877-877-9392.
• File a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General.

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