Editorial: Cracking down on sweepstakes mailings

We've all received them in the mail, those sweepstakes offerings that suspiciously look like official government correspondence. Most people follow the rule that if it's too good to be true, it probably is -- and then promptly toss the phony pitches in the garbage can where they belong.

But too many people, especially senior citizens, have fallen victim to the misleading tactics of direct mail marketers. Sometimes they spend thousands of dollars to enter contests in which they have been promised that they are "guaranteed winners," yet end up with nothing. And the disclaimers saying no purchase is required to enter the contest are often a joke, since usually they are in such fine print it would take a magnifying glass to read them.

There is no excuse for these blatantly misleading mailings that make people believe they've won when, in fact, it's just a come-on to get people to spend money for something they don't need. In an effort to crack down on this abuse, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress that would toughen the regulations stopping sweepstakes mailings that mirror government documents and hike the fines for firms that mail deceptive sweepstakes forms.

A sense of morality obviously hasn't taken hold of these companies to discontinue the deceptive practices. Maybe the legislation's proposed fines for fraudulent mailings -- instead of the current cap of $10,000, fines could go as high as $2 million -- finally will get the attention of direct mail marketers. Even those without a conscience usually end up doing the right thing if hits them in their wallet.

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