866-949-5047

This number belongs to Rapid Travel Deals.  Supposedly located in Scottsdale, Arizona.  They are an award redeption company.  They are working for a travel agency that is trying to get their name out there.  Wierdly enough, one of the qualifications was that you had a photo id and a major credit card.  They felt like people with major credit cards traveled more.  You have to come in and sit through a presentation and then you pay the taxes and fees on your two round trip tickets.  You pay this when you book your flights.  I ended up declining the offer.

Rapid Travel Deals sounds like a cruise/vacation/timeshare/travel_club/whatever SELLING company where victims are forced to listen to a multi-hour presentation (2 hours typical) to BUY, BUY, BUY the travel "deals" they sell. Re. "They felt like people with major credit cards traveled more", no they don't -- RTD requires you to bring a credit card to the presentation because they will CHARGE the taxes, fees, and whatever else they can sell you during the presentation, like travel club membership costing $THOUSANDS, on the card. The photo ID is a check to make sure victims don't scam RTD with a fake card. After caving in to the high pressure banging sales, or if you manage to fend off the shark salesfolk, you will be allowed to redeem your "award" which MAY be loaded with so many gotchas that many decline and walk away, i.e., those "awards" will end up costing you $money up front and why you must bring a credit card, they won't be for free. After all, they told you you have won 1 or 5 awards, they did not say you have won 1 of 5 FREE awards, did they? Sometimes an award is for what seems like a great low-cost vacation at an exciting resort and when you get there, you MAY find that you have to sit through ANOTHER multi-hour, high pressure banging sales presentation and beware -- you're trapped there at the resort, where are you going to run to to hide from the shark salesfolk? You MAY be hounded to BUY BUY BUY during your great low-cost "vacation" -- that's why it's low-cost or perhaps even free, it's to bring potential buyers to the resort to get them to BUY BUY BUY a resort timeshare or something or other. There's nothing illegal with this sort of selling but people should be made aware of what they will be getting into.

I got a letter in the US mail. US Airlines as the header. Saying I have qualified for $1,400 in airline tickets to anywhere in the US. Signed Cindy Marino, Vice President. In bold, it says to please call today at 866-949-5047. It screams of scam and fraud.

THIS IS A SCAM. There is no such air carrier called "US Airlines." There is US Air and United Airlines but "US Airlines" does not exist. http://www.kls2.com/airlines/n-america.html lists all North American carriers and "US Airlines" isn't on it. THIS IS A SCAM. This is a version of the advance-fee-for-something scam where something is a grant, loan, lottery winnings, interest rate reduction, gift card, refund, doggie, cruise, vacation, free gas, etc., and the advance-fee is for tax, shipping, registration, insurance, secure handling, processing, etc. They may send you a fake check, may want your credit/debit card or bank account number,  or tell you to wire cash via Western Union, Moneygram, etc. They can put recurrent difficult-to-cancel monthly charges or a 1-time charge on your card or bank account, and sell account info to other criminals and you'll have to replace accounts altogether. Wired-cash is irretrievable - once it's picked up at the other end, it's untraceable and gone. If they want you to call them up for instructions, they may tell you not to discuss the wire with Western Union desk clerks but the real reason is WU clerks are familiar with these scams and will warn you not to wire the money. Report to US Postal Service Inspectors https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php as appropriate.