If your first thought after reading the above headline was, “Hmmm, I don't think there is a U.S. Airlines”, you will most likely not be a victim of one of the most recent direct mail scams out there.

An employee in our law office recently received a semi-official looking notification from some unscrupulous organization dubbing itself US Airlines – although you don't find that out until after you open the direct mail flyer. After alerting her that she only has a few days to respond, she was informed that she “qualified for an award of 2 round-trip airline tickets”, and was wished a hearty “congratulations”. And even though “certain restrictions apply”, the tickets are valued up to $1,398.00.

The notification went on to say that they had “tried to contact her several times, and this is our last attempt”. The urgency was ramped up with a closing that threatened if she did not contact them soon, they may need to “issue the vouchers to the alternate” – whatever that means. She was then advised to call and present her claim number to 1-855-879-8217, which at first glance could appear to be a toll-free number, but it is not.

Being the curious, internet-savvy person that she is, our employee Google-searched the phone number, and uncovered several websites alerting people about the scam.

“There are so many people in the world today trying to make a fast buck off of innocent, unsuspecting people,” noted Fort Myers attorney Scot. D. Goldberg, of Goldberg Noone Abraham. “Sadly, these kind of scams happen all the time, and people can lose a lot of money in the process”.

If you receive a suspicious looking piece of mail with an offer that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Think twice and do a little investigation before you get involved