How Did A Baby Wind Up A Direct Marketing Target?

June 5 - KGO (KGO) -- We all get those offers for discounts and credit cards in our mailboxes, but there's one unlikely recipient of some direct mail offers, and it may be a little disturbing.

Junk mail accounts for an astounding one-third of the postal service mail. Now it's reaching a whole new demographic, and families might take warning.

Gabriella Bush of Walnut Creek has been getting junk mail offers in her mailbox lately. One of them urged her to "call immediately" because she might have just won $2.1 million.

Another one offered her vouchers for $400 each to buy things like gold watches, stereos, camcorders and laptop computers.

Now these junk mail offers don't seem unusual, until you meet Gabriella, sweet smiling Gabriella Bush. At nine months old, she doesn't walk or talk. She doesn't even know her name and address yet, but some of the big direct marketing companies of America already do. Like National Magazine Exchange of Florida and the Sweepstakes Clearinghouse of Dallas.

That's unsettling to her parents, Lia and Brian Bush, who want to know how Gabriella's personal information got into the big wide world so soon.

Lia Bush, Walnut Creek: "When I opened it up and saw all these pre written checks, obviously I was concerned again.The thing that caught my eye the most was the $2.1 million and I didn't really read a lot further quite frankly because I knew I just wanted to take her off the list."

Lia just hopes no one out there misuses Gabriella's name.

Lia Bush, Walnut Creek: "And hope that her identity doesn't get stolen, her credit doesn't get wrecked up or that she doesn't get bombarded with all these kinds of things.

So how does a little baby wind up a target of direct marketing?

We asked the companies that sent her the junk mail. One of them responded.

Sweepstakes Clearinghouse Vice President Rick Burton was surprised a baby received his $400 vouchers.

He isn't interested in mailing offers to little kids. His company buys customer names from retailers. He says Gabriella might have ended up on a mailing list if a purchase was made in her name.

Aha, say her parents. It might be Gabriella's membership in a baby book club, a gift from an uncle, that opened the junk mail floodgates.

Joe Ridout of Consumer Action says parents might want to delay getting their child a social security card and take other steps to keep their names private.

Joe Ridout, Consumer Action: "It's important not to disclose any of their personal information to a corporation. Businesses can't necessarily be trusted to protect that child's information."

If their information is already out, here are some tips:

Contact the Direct Marketing Association of Washington D.C.; for a small fee you can get off most mailing lists.

Contact each company that sends you mail, and ask them to stop. There's no law forcing them to do that, but most will comply.

As for Gabriella, it looks like she's ready to let dad handle it.

It's unfortunate, but families may want to rethink putting magazine subscriptions, gift registries or other purchases in a child's name.

For more information, visit www.privacyrights.org

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