6
Mail designed to look like a government or legal document
Not just distasteful, this one has its own body of enforcement.
Envelopes marked to resemble official correspondence. Fake case numbers. Type set to look like a tax form. A grey box near the bottom reading “This is not an official government document”, in the smallest type on the page.
That disclaimer is not there for your benefit. It is there because mail engineered to be mistaken for official paperwork sits squarely in what consumer protection regulators and state attorneys general pursue, and the line is added in the hope of staying just the right side of it.
Some senders doing this are outright fraudsters. Some are real companies running real promotions with grim marketing. The disclaimer tells you which question to ask, and the answer rarely flatters anyone.