Every few months or so a rather government-ish looking letter fueled with urgency arrives in the mailbox. The wording and appearance of this and similar letters mimics something more insidious, something filled with apparent officiousness but totally lacking in substance. It is quite simple. The goal is to separate you from your pocket book while manipulating your good will and common sense.

How to convince you to believe something from nothing without bumping into legal prohibitions? Use language that infers a critical responsibility to respond; due dates and declarations such as “...