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I have sent letters or emails to these companies advising them to cease and desist as they prey on the elderly's heartstring or trick them into donating to them. Many have stopped, but the ones that have continued, I would like to report them. Any help would be appreciated!

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Does your Mom live alone and still handle all her mail; is she competent?
If so it is up to Mom to decide who she gives to as far as charities go.

If your Mom is currently in ALF or other facilities and is not completely mentally competent, and you are POA handling her financial affairs you might consider having all mail come to your address, then take personal mail to Mom when you visit.

I don't know of anything else you can do to control these mailings, sad as that is. Wishing you the best.
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Stuff the mail back into the return envelope and send it back on their dime. Maybe mark it deceased...
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MACinCT Apr 2023
Unless it is firzt class, it will not get returned
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I just detest this stuff too.
I donate here & there for a cause ☺️ then get bombarded & harresed by junk mail 😡.

I get they feel it is easier to squeeze more money out of a known payer than find a new payer.. but this leaves such a bad taste. Plus the sheer WASTE of paper, postage & time sending all that mail.

I write once, politely explaining it was one off donation, politely requesting removal from ongoing mail.

Then I 'return to sender' all their mail.

This has worked for most, eventually.

If they persisted I think I would write & advice a change of address to Stop Mailouts, Unsubscribe Street, Unsubscribe Town.
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I emailed mostly.

I also did what Pam suggested. But they are getting smarter. Some have stopped using self-addressed envelopes. But when Mom was with us, I would put all the inserts in the self-addressed envelope. Putting the pc of paper with Moms name and address where they saw it first thing. I put "please take my name off your mailing list". It worked for me.

I found what starts this whole thing is sending out any money at all to these charities, they sell there mailing lists. Also, subscribing to magazines and catalogs. Entering contests.
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Unfortunately, once a person donates to a charity the mail will start to flood in. It usually stops after awhile if no one donates to their charity.

Is mom still donating to them?

I immediately place any junk mail in the shredder!
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You need to get financial POA, or at least be on her account so you can cancel her payments.

Once she's on a mailing list, she'll never be off. They sell the addresses to dozens of other companies. So if you give to Wounded Warriors, for example, you'll get requests from Fisher House, Guide Dogs for Vets, etc. etc. etc.

Going to the source will not help, and certainly not in time. Good luck. It's such a common scam, but she's giving of her own free will. So sorry.
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NeedHelpWithMom Apr 2023
This is true. Some people do pass on personal information such as addresses and phone numbers.

This is also why I never sign up for door prizes at any type of public events. You will most definitely get a ton of unwanted stuff in the mail and be harassed with annoying phone calls.
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I have noticed on some of this "junk" mail there is a box to check off if you don't want them sharing info. TG my Mom got it in her head that she could no longer write checks and had me doing it.
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Just as answering annoyance phone calls to yell at the solicitors confirms to them that they have a good phone number, so too will checking off boxes or returning their info confirm that your mother's address is good.

If these are legitimate charities, provide your mom's information to this website --

https://give.org/tips-for-donors/charity-mailing-list-removal
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Report them to the Attorney General for your Mom's home state (but don't expect much). Other than that, take your Mom's name off of mailing lists. Make sure she only answers calls from people she knows. All other calls are filtered through voicemail: important callers leave a message, all others mostly do not.

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail

https://www.directmail.com/mail_preference
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