BirdWatching has learned that some of our customers have received bogus renewal notices from a company called PMB Pacific Magazine Billing LLC.
At least one of our readers received a card in the mail that said the renewal rate was $69.95 for one year (six issues) of BirdWatching. This did not come from us, and in fact it’s much more than we charge for a one-year subscription (in the United States).
If you receive any mail from Pacific Magazine Billing or renewal notices with prices that seem unusually high, DO NOT respond to those offers. They are scams, plain and simple.
It’s unfortunate, but this kind of scam is not uncommon. The website Scam Pulse has dozens of complaints from people saying PMB sent them fake renewal notices for magazines such as Vanity Fair, The Economist, Yankee, National Geographic, and others. This writer for the website BoingBoing explains how mailings from PMB look official but include fine print that say: “THIS IS AN OFFER FROM AN INDEPENDENT COMPANY, NOT A BILL.”
The image below shows what a legitimate renewal notice from BirdWatching looks like:
The BoingBoing writer has the perfect advice: “My opinion: if you receive an ‘offer’ from Pacific Magazine Billing, rip it into little pieces and deposit it in a recycling bin. And notify elderly relatives to do the same.”
Please note that if you have sent payment to PMB for what you thought was a BirdWatching renewal, you should stop payment through your bank if possible.
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