OPEN ON TELEMARKETING BOILER ROOM. PARK RICHARDSON Hey, push them. Push them. Make the money. Push it up. Bump it up. If they got 8, you can push them to 8 1/2. Obviously, you're a man of the scene. TELEMARKTER Okay. Talk to me afterwards. But this is today, Joe. TELEMARKTER You want to be the man? It's your shot. Where do you want to be next year? PARK RICHARDSON Gentlemen, if I may have your attention for a moment, please. The management of Initial Investments International would like to invite all of its employees to join management at Escapades tonight. There will be free drinks, free "X," and if we are lucky, a little free entertainment. Your top salesman of the week: Mark, take a bow. He'll also be receiving the grand prize of an evening of pleasure with the lovely Miss Amber in the VIP room. That’s right. That's right. Hopefully that's enough incentive for the rest of you slobs to start getting your numbers up next week. Let's go boys. INT. OLDER SIMPLE HOUSE - DAY INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Dad? JOHN MCCORMICK Hey, little girl. NIECE Hey. Are you ready? JOHN MCCORMICK I'll be with you in a minute. I'm still dressing. How was the traffic? NIECE It wasn't too bad. Are you eating? JOHN MCCORMICK Yeah. Just not too hungry this morning. Had too much supper last night, I think. Here we go, Copper Top. I wish you hadn't had to come in all the way from the city though. I could have driven myself. NIECE Stop! Perfect chance for me to take my best guy out to lunch. You promised we were going to go to lunch after you see the doctor. JOHN MCCORMICK You're just like your mother was. Always worrying if I'd eaten. If I remember to take my medicine. I'm a grown man, you know. I can manage just fine. NIECE I know, Dad. You haven't invested money in these guys, have you? JOHN MCCORMICK No. Not yet. Geore Taurus—you remember George. He said he's making a lot of money with those folks. He sent me this and he said that this is going to make his retirement. And it could make my retirement. NIECE It's not going to make your retirement, Dad. I see this kind of thing a lot at work. You don't need to invest in stuff like this, okay? JOHN MCCORMICK Well, those folks must be on the level. George was in banking for years. He wouldn't put money in something that wasn't solid. It's got risks, but you've got to take risks to make money. NIECE You shouldn't worry about that. With your pension and savings, you'll be just fine. You can put that extra money in a college fund for that grandchild I'm going to have someday. The grandchild that you're going to see grow up. JOHN MCCORMICK I hope you're right, Copper Top. But rainy days come too, and you've got to prepare for them. NIECE Speaking of that...Do you have an umbrella? It's supposed to rain. JOHN MCCORMICK Okay. NIECE You ready? JOHN MCCORMICK Yeah. For lunch, where would you like to go? NIECE Let's go somewhere and get some fish. JOHN MCCORMICK Okay. We can go to Seafarer and split a piece of lemon cake. NIECE Salmon too. Yeah. EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY NIECE You don't want me to go in? JOHN MCCORMICK No, honey, I got my book. You'd be bored. Why don't you do some shopping or something? NIECE I've got a couple calls I need to make. But I'll check in on you, okay? JOHN MCCORMICK Bye-bye . NIECE Bye. INT. USPIS OFFICE – DAY INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Goddard. NIECE Hey, Alan. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Hey, Michele, how's your dad doing? NIECE Good. He just went in for his treatment. Are you busy today? I've got something I need checked out. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD What do you need? NIECE My dad got this mailing I don't feel good about. It's from this company called Initial Investments International. Their address is in the business district, but it looks like that stuff that outfit in Chicago used to peddle. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Yeah. Give me that address again. Got it. I'll tell you what. Let me check the system, see if any complaints turn up. If nothing turns up, I've got a good contact down at the SEC. Your dad doesn't have money in this, does he? NIECE No, but my neighbor, George Taurus, may have. He's like my uncle. He looked out for me when I was a kid. I don't want to see him get burned. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Yeah. Let me see what I can turn up. I'll give you a call. NIECE Thanks, Alan. I really appreciate it. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD You got it. Bye. INT. CAR – LATER THAT DAY VOICEMAIL SYSTEM: You have one new message and seven old messages. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Michele, hey, it's Alan. You were right. Got a couple of complaints about these guys. Five-grand-plus in losses both times. It looks like they've only been in business the last seven months. The lease is to a guy named Park Richardson. He's been sanctioned once before by the SEC. I'm going by to go take a look a little later. I've already jacketed a case on this one. I'm sorry, Michele. I wish I had better news for you. NIECE Damn it. That's great. That's just great. EXT. MIDDLE CLASS HOME - DAy GEORGE TAURUS Hello. Can I help you? NIECE Hi, Mr. Taurus. I'm Michele Niece. I used to live down the street. The McCormick's? GEORGE TAURUS Yes, Michele, come in. It's so good to see you. I didn't recognize you. How are you? NIECE I'm doing very well, thank you. GEORGE TAURUS I'm sure you'd love to see April, but she's not home right now. She went skiing with our kids out in Denver, if you can believe that. She'll be so sorry she missed you. NIECE Me too. Actually, I'm here on business. GEORGE TAURUS Okay. Let's have a seat. Now refresh my memory. What is it that you do again? NIECE I'm a postal inspector. GEORGE TAURUS That's right. Let me take your coat. He said you were tops in your class. NIECE That's Dad. GEORGE TAURUS Have a seat. He's very proud of you. Where do you live now, Michele? NIECE I'm living in the city. I have a loft. GEORGE TAURUS Ah, a warehouse. What's your dad think about that? NIECE You know Daddy doesn't like that. GEORGE TAURUS I know your dad, yeah. NIECE He said you recommended this company to him a few days ago. I just wanted to ask you a little bit about it. GEORGE TAURUS I know what that is. Triple-I. One of the best investments I've ever made. These guys are sharp. Real go-getters. NIECE How'd you find out about them? GEORGE TAURUS I have you folks to thank. I got a piece in the mail. It talked about investing in biotechnology companies. Real ground-floor kind of stuff. So I called them up. My broker, a guy named Park Richardson, got me set up in a small investment, and it's been growing ever since. Why do you ask? NIECE Some of the returns on investment that they talk about seem really high. GEORGE TAURUS Well, they all do that. It's called advertising. If you look at the fine print, it says that these returns are not typical. It's all here if you read carefully. NIECE They're not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GEORGE TAURUS I asked that very same question myself. You see, this is a general partnership company. And the firms involved, well, they don't have to register with the SEC until they go public. NIECE We checked with some of the companies they claim to represent. And most have never heard of Initial Investments International. And we have some complaints in our system about them. GEORGE TAURUS You must be mistaken. I have my account summaries here. I was just working with them. Now, look at this. Two months ago, I invested $5,000 in Fibercell. And it's currently valued at almost three times that. And when they go public, I'll get three shares for every one share that I already own. That's how this venture game works. It's not like your typical bank returns. NIECE Mr. Taurus, Park Richardson has been involved in a company like this before. He was sanctioned by the SEC for making illegal trades. GEORGE TAURUS So, if what you say is true, he'd be in jail right now, wouldn't he? NIECE No, sir. Often we pursue civil actions against these people. We stop their mailings. We shut them down. Sometimes the SEC fines them. But this time I think it's a little more serious. GEORGE TAURUS Michele, I know you're concerned about your dad. NIECE I'm concerned about you and I’m concerned about April. GEORGE TAURUS I appreciate that. I appreciate that. But I have some background in this kind of thing. NIECE I know you do. I'm just looking out for you. I see this a lot at work. You need to listen to what I'm trying to tell you. GEORGE TAURUS You're just trying to help me. But in this case, you're mistaken. There's another Park Richardson. NIECE Maybe you're right. Why not play it safe? Call them and try to get your investment back. Sometimes they'll pay a few investors off just to keep the operation going. Tell them you think it's a scam. Threaten to call the police. Sometimes it works. GEORGE TAURUS Young lady, I will do no such thing. These investments have been very profitable for April and I. The way the market is these days, you have to take a few risks if you want to make money. Look. We have taken a few losses here and there. But overall, Park has done a very good job for us. And you have not said anything for which you have any proof at all. And I'm looking at these figures right here, in black and white. NIECE Mr. Taurus, I don't mean to upset you, but this is my job and I see this all the time. Just try to get some of your money back. Please. GEORGE TAURUS If I did that, I would have to pay penalties for early withdrawals. That could be almost 20%. NIECE Wouldn't you sleep better at night? Wouldn't you feel more comfortable? GEORGE TAURUS You're worried about your dad. NIECE I'm not worried about my dad. I'm not trying to—I'm worried about you. I know, you're one of the smartest guys I know. Mr. Taurus, you have no idea what these guys will do. You've got a lot of money involved in this. I want to make sure that you're okay. GEORGE TAURUS I'm going to talk to April about it, okay? NIECE Okay. I'm sorry. GEORGE TAURUS That's okay. NIECE You guys mean a lot to me. GEORGE TAURUS I'll get your coat. TELEMARKETER Triple-I, can I help you? GEORGE TAURUS Yes. Hello. May I speak with Mr. Richardson? TELEMARKETER Yes. May I ask who's calling? GEORGE TAURUS This is George Taurus, one of his clients. INT. BOILER ROOM – DAY PARK RICHARDSON George. How's it going, my friend? You sneaking out to see some broads while your wife's away? GEORGE TAURUS No, nothing like that, Park. I was just going over my account summary and taking a look at this Mitchum stock. It's not doing so well. PARK RICHARDSON Yeah, I’ve been looking at that one myself. it hasn't been doing too great, George. Sometimes the R&D on these things takes time. That's going to be a good one for us though. GEORGE TAURUS Well, the thing is, Park, I've had a lot of expenses come up recently. I was thinking I might like to cash that one out. You know, just get the money and cut my losses. PARK RICHARDSON George, what are you talking about? You don't want to get out now. You’re ten percent down. You're going to get hit hard with the penalties. These guys are doing a press release on their new manufacturing process any day now. You want to get out now, before the thing takes off? GEORGE TAURUS No, I don't. But April said— PARK RICHARDSON "April said"? George, let me tell you what I say when my old lady tries to tell me what to do. I say, "I make the money. I'll spend it any way I see fit." Didn't you make this dough to begin with, George? Isn’t that what you told me? Your wife stayed home while you slaved away at the bank? GEORGE TAURUS Yes, but... PARK RICHARDSON But nothing, George. There's no “buts.” I can't make you money if you won't go with my recommendations. Look at Pencourt stock. What do you got in that, 7 grand? It's up to 12.5. Didn't I tell you about that one, George? Didn’t I tell you to load up on that one, George? Didn't I tell you I had my own mother in that stock? GEORGE TAURUS That was a good investment, but this Mitchum stock— PARK RICHARDSON This Mitchum stock is about to explode, that's what. Let me tell you what I want to see happen here, George. I want to see us make some real money. I want to see you hit this one big, okay? You are a great customer. You deserve it, George. Let's look at putting another 10 grand into Mitchum. Now's the time to buy it, George. The stock is underpriced. Buy low, sell high, George, right? Can you see that, George? GEORGE TAURUS I can see that, but I just don't have the money right now. PARK RICHARDSON Let's get at least 5 grand. You can do that, right, George? GEORGE TAURUS I don't really have that cash right now. Maybe I could move something over from CDs. PARK RICHARDSON How soon can you get it here, George? This thing is going to explode. I can maybe cover you if you can get it here within three days. You can do that, right, George? GEORGE TAURUS Well, I suppose. PARK RICHARDSON Let me tell you what I'm going to do, George. You're a good customer. I'm going to eat my commission on this one, George. I'll take one of the girls upstairs to dinner, show her a good time, my treat, talk her into covering you until your check comes. I'll make my money on the next one, pal. GEORGE TAURUS I don't really want you to have to do that. I could get down to the bank first thing tomorrow. PARK RICHARDSON Let me lock you in at 7 1/4 on Mitchum. You just hold on for confirmation to verify the order, all right, George? GEORGE TAURUS Thanks, Park. I really appreciate this. PARK RICHARDSON Hey, for you, buddy, no problem, George. If you need me after confirmation, have her buzz you right back. Have a great weekend, pal. Take care. Here we go. (hangs up phone) PARK RICHARDSON That's why I'm the king. Five grand, cha-ching! Thirty seconds. I will take it. Anybody. I want to see someone do it. Get on the phones. Let's move. 7 1/4. Easy money. Just got to talk them out of it. Prey on the elderly. 2,000 shares is a drop in the barrel. Stay on them. "No" means "yes." INT. MIDDLE CLASS HOME - NIGHT GEORGE TAURUS Hello. NIECE Mr. Taurus? Hi, it's Michele Niece. How are you? GEORGE TAURUS Hello, Michele. NIECE Were you able to take your money out of Triple-I? GEORGE TAURUS I’m not certain about any of this anymore. I've started getting a lot of mail asking me to invest in oil wells and precious metals. How do you think they happen to have gotten my name? NIECE They may have gotten your name from Park Richardson, sir. GEORGE TAURUS So, they keep lists of who the fools are? NIECE No, no, no. I don't mean that. These crooks do share information sometimes. GEORGE TAURUS Yeah. I made a tape the other night when I called them back. Would you like it? Do you think it would help? NIECE Yes! I would love to have that. That was a wonderful idea. I was wondering if you might be able to do me another favor. Do you have a pencil handy? I’d like you to— INT. BOILER ROOM - DAy SECRETARY Can I help you? NIECE I’ve got restricted delivery for Park Richardson. Is he here? SECRETARY Yeah, one second. Park? PARK RICHARDSON Yeah. SECRETARY Mail for you. (PARK enters) NIECE Park? PARK RICHARDSON Yeah. NIECE I need your signature right there. PARK RICHARDSON Always happy to see the mail come in. NIECE Good news, huh? PARK RICHARDSON Always. You doing all right? NIECE I'm good. How are you? PARK RICHARDSON I'm doing terrific. Thanks. NIECE Have a good day. PARK RICHARDSON You too. (To secretary) PARK RICHARDSON Let's see. We'll celebrate tonight, Denise. Dinner at Vargo's. My treat. EXT. ENTRANCE TO BOILEROOM INSPECTOR BILL DAVIS What do we got? NIECE One room. 12 guys. Split down the middle. No other entrance. Informant said the guy's got a gun. I didn't see one on him. INT. BOILERROOM - DAY SECRETARY Can I help you? INSPECTOR IN CHARGE BILL DAVIS Police! Search Warrant! Police! Open up! MONTAGE – USPIS INSPECOTRS & POLICE OFFICERS BREAK UP BOILER ROOM BILL DAVIS How long you going to be here? POLICE OFFICER Five minutes to bag the evidence. BILL DAVIS Good job. (Turns to face camera) BILL DAVIS Investment fraud is just one of the type of phone frauds out there. To avoid these telemarketing criminals, listen for these tip-offs. You must act now, or the offer will expire. Take your time. Be extremely cautious about investing with an unknown caller or responding to a mail solicitation that insists you must make up your mind immediately. You must send money, give a credit-card or bank-account number, or have your check picked up by a courier before you've had a chance to consider the offer. Never send cash, and keep financial information private unless you know who you're dealing with. Get all information in writing before you agree to buy. You can't afford to miss this high-profit, no-risk offer. Realize that there's no such thing as a risk-free investment. Take the time to do your homework. Read articles in news and financial publications like Barron’s or The Wall Street Journal. You don't need written information or references about the company. It's a sure-fire investment. Check the firm out with the Better Business Bureau, State Attorney General's office, or Consumer Protection Bureau. Talk to a friend, relative, or financial advisor before you do anything. Don't be afraid to hang up on pushy salespeople on the phone. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Young people can also help by keeping an eye on their parent's finances, especially if they're going through an illness that might make it difficult for them to think clearly or remember details. In this case, Inspector Niece may have prevented her father from losing money just by being alert. You can do the same for your parents. Remember, if you think you've been the victim of a telemarketing fraud, you need to report it. Contact your local postal inspectors. You can find them in the phone book or on our website at: USPS.COM/POSTALINSPECTORS.