Sorry, folks -- that was obviously meant to be a private message.

----
Rick Anderson
Dir. of Resource Acquisition
University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
(775) 784-6500 x273
rickand@unr.edu

> -----Original Message-----
> From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
> [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Rick Anderson
> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 1:01 PM
> To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SERIALST] The Return of Mrs. Larson (RE: Scam alert)
>
> 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
> >
>