Quaker Oats: Watch Out For A Fake Check Scam Asking For Your Personal Information
The Quaker Oats company contacted us to ask that we help get the word out that a mailing offering thousands of dollars in exchange for sensitive personal information did not come from their company and is a scam.
Here's their official statement:
We recently learned of a mail fraud scam that is falsely using the Quaker Oats Company's name and offering consumers thousands of dollars in exchange for personal information. This is currently being mailed to some consumers’ homes and we want the public to be alerted that Quaker Oats did not initiate, nor does it endorse this activity. The check is not ours and has no value. We do not use these types of incentives for the purpose of collecting personal information from our consumers, and we would never ask our customers to divulge any private information. Please do not respond to the letters or attempt to cash these fraudulent checks. If you receive a mailing of this nature, we ask that you forward it to us at Consumer Affairs, PO Box 049003, Chicago, IL 60604-9003.
Thanks for giving us the chance to clarify the situation, and we encourage you to share this information with anyone who you think may have received this mailing so that they are not victimized by this fraud. We apologize for any inconvenience or concern.
Always be wary of shady offers that claim to come from reputable companies. If you get a dubious mailing like this, be sure to report it to your state's attorney general.
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Comments:
I used to live in Cedar Rapids, and the QO plant always made the city smell like cereal. Yum!
I had Crunch Berries for breakfast today.
You go Quaker Oats. All my life it's Quaker Oats, none of that generic crap.
Besides, why would a humble oatmeal company want more money from you unless they want to build some kind of cereal factory in the sky.
Thanks for the heads-up!
@Me: Are they still in Cedar Rapids? Was the plant effected by the flooding? Cedar Rapids was hit real hard.
monday-friday, i have a bowl of quaker oats for breakfast. best way to start the day!
@twophrasebark:
You claim to be obsessed with cereal, yet called it Captain Crunch? It's Cap'n Crunch.
The real question, is who would trust the fact that out of the blue, Quaker Oats mails you something that says "Give us info, we give you lots of money".
Are thieves really desperate for idiots?
@Jonbo298: You know who believes that? The same people who believe their British National Lottery winnings were in fact accidentally deposited into a bank in Nigeria (doh!), and all they need to do is forward their bank info in order to collect on it.
@Jonbo298: I think the fact that they can resort to techniques so crude proves that the thieves are not desperate for idiots. There must be so many of these idiots, they probably scrape a few dozen of them off their windshields every day, then try to sell them something. I stepped in a puddle of idiots this morning; I'm still peeling SSNs off my shoes.
@Jonbo298:
These vermin are trading on a trusted ,respected name,that's why. Whatever you may think of Quaker,they are well known and trusted by a lot of folks.Clearly,they can cover a large check,so these theives depend on the gullibility of their victims. These people are beneath contempt.
it is refreshing to hear about nice companies.
What's for breakfast?
What's for lunch?
What's for dinner?
CAPTAIN CRUNCH!!!
I've not seen this scam... Was this just a publicity stunt?
@chiieddy: I don;t know, but I've been thinking about that this week. Very nice town, great people. I left there at 15.
Thanks for the heads up. Will do!
somehow I am convinced wilford brimley is the mastermind behind this. Those diabeetus medications aren't gonna pay for themselves, right?
Yay Quaker Oats!
Oatmeal: good the body and the soul.
@Jonbo298: Older, non-internet savvy folks. My dad gets these "lottery" letters and scam checks all the time. Every time one came it was, "Look! I won $4 mil the Canadian Lottery! I just have to cash this check for $X,XXX and send it in for taxes!" It took some time to convince him they weren't real. He had no idea someone would try to scam him in such a way.
I cannot be the only one who thinks this is a creative way to advertise on the Consumerist.
I want a cereal called Crunch Berries, nothing but brightly colored crunch berries, without the Cap'n, he scares me, his cereal is good, but he scares the bejesus out of me. I'm not scared of crunchy berries. Listen up Quaker Oats, Crunch Berries only cereal please!!!
@Jonbo298: I had the same reaction you did. "Quaker Oats? Seriously?"
I'm sure everyone who replied to you is right about why this could/would work but still...the headline caused a very loud record scratching noise in my head.
Kudos to Quaker Oats!
...for being savvy and contacting Consumerist to get the word out about the problem, instead of making the mistakes we so many other companies commit (i.e. ignoring problems, ignoring consumers and so on).
Also, did you know that Quaker Oats makes Captain Crunch? Not Kellogg's, not Post, not General Mills. It's the Quaker, folks.
(I don't work for Quaker Oats. I am just obsessed with cereal)