Re: The Return of Mrs. Larson (RE: Scam alert) Rick Anderson 14 Jan 2005 21:01 UTC
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 >