It's funny. For all their sophistication in assembling mail-merge documents, you'd think they would at least make one attempt to use the spell-checker. Strike two.[big bold letterhead:] CCD RESEARCH, LLC
We would like your householld [sic] to participate in our marketing study and promotion. For your participation, you will receive a FREE Android Tablet Computer.
[snip]
You are under no obligation to pay, purchase or subscribe to anything to recieve [sic] your tablet. There is no cost for shipping and handling.
Page two is a product survey claiming that CCD Research, LLC is at the same Florida address shown on the outside of the envelope. A quick query at the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations website reveals that there is no corporation registered in Florida with that name. Strike three and out.
Finally, to add zest to my mirth, I checked the phone number given in the letter on 800Notes.com. It comes up as a phone number belonging to scammers, and cross-references to reports of other scams originating from the same funky address, including a cruise with free airfare and hotel for listening to a sales presentation for a "membership travel program."
And the website in the letter is invalid.
Criminey. Those presorted first-class stamps cost 36 cents each, with a minimum of 500 pieces required in the mailing batch. That's $180+ in postage alone. Envelopes, paper, computer, mailing list, printing, and the labor or equipment required to stuff the envelopes cost more.
If I were running a scam and had to put a bunch of my own money in up front, you can be darn sure I would: 1) use spell-checker, 2) make sure my website was running, 3) NOT re-use a bogus corporation name that was already linked with other easy-to-verify frauds.