Fraudulent fax offers placement on Google

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This article was published 09/07/2010 (5576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Business owners beware. A fax scam may find its way into your office.

On Thursday, Dave Lindenberg of Jiffy Food & Video received a fax from Yellow Page Manitoba offering free placement on Google’s search engine. He said at first glance, the form looked legitimate.

“If that showed up on your desk and you were signing a bunch of papers, you would just sign it,” said Lindenberg.

But upon closer inspection, he said it was clear it was a scam.

“First of all, I noticed it said yellow page, not yellow pages. I thought that was odd.”

The fax has a fuzzy logo in the top left corner similar to the actual Yellow Pages logo, but upside down. The listed address for the publisher, Yellow Publishing Ltd., is for Manchester, United Kingdom, not Canada.

The fax also requests payment upfront. And it’s not cheap.

The contract requests “a term of two years at a cost of $119 per month payable one year in advance.” It adds: “payment is still required for the agreement term in the event that the customer chooses to remove their record from the directory”.

Slightly more alarming is that the fax contained Jiffy Food & Video’s address and phone number. The form only requests corrections and additional information, making it seem like businesses receiving the fax are already customers of Yellow Publishing.

Over the past year, the scam, which uses virtually the same fax sheet every time, has been reported in other Canadian provinces including Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia, but also in the United States and Australia.

Representatives from the real Yellow Page Group say they are aware of the fraud and are pursuing legal action against the fake company.

Cpl. Louis Robertson from Phonebusters — the Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre — said details about the investigation into the scam will be available next week.

If you have already sent a payment to the fraudulent company, contact the Brandon Police Service.

If you suspect a phone call, fax or email is fraudulent, report it to Phonebusters at phonebusters.com or 1-888-495-8501.

It is likely a scam if:

* It sounds too good to be true: You’ve won a big prize in a contest you don’t remember entering or you’re told you can buy into a lottery ticket pool you can’t lose.

* You must pay or you can’t play: “You’re a winner!”, but you must agree to send money to the caller for delivery, processing or some other fee to receive your prize. Sometimes the caller will even send a courier to pick up your money.

* You must give them your private financial information: The caller asks for all your confidential banking or credit card information. Honest businesses do not require these details unless you are using that specific method of payment.

* Will that be cash or cash?: Cash is untraceable and can’t be cancelled, so criminal telemarketers will ask for cash instead of a cheque or credit card information.

* The caller is more excited than you are: The crooks want to get you excited about this opportunity so that you won’t be able to think clearly.

* It’s a limited opportunity and you’re going to miss out: You shouldn’t be pressured to make a big purchase decision immediately. Real businesses or charities will give you a chance to check them out or think about it.

* The stranger calling wants to become your best friend: Criminals love finding out if you’re lonely and willing to talk. Once they know that, they’ll try and convince you that they are your friend so you don’t suspect them of being crooks.

» from Phonebusters.com