A number of companies send fake but authentic-looking invoices to magazine subscribers. "False notices of this sort plague magazines everywhere," says Fred W. Frailey, editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, "and often the perpetrators simply pocket the money."
Frailey says that their greatest nemesis is Publishers Billing Emporium, but lists eight others who do the same thing. "The invoices these outfits send often look identical, causing me to wonder whether they all come from the same group of people," he says.
The best thing to do, Frailey says, is to make sure the renewal notice sent from the address in the magazine. Most magazines also list their service bureau, so if you are asked to send a check anywhere else, "throw it away," Frailey says.
Other companies Frailey says have been bothering his readers are "Billing Associates, Publishers' Billing Service, Periodical Billing Services, Billing Services of America, Subscription Billing Service, Circulation Billing Services, Readers Billing Services and Magazine Payment Services."
