Warning Ladies/Gents! - Scam! Please read

[Keeley20]

I thought i would share the latest scam! Iv only been open a week and already having problems.
So had a phone call from a really friendly man, calling on behalf on south yourkshire police(where i live). They are doing a newletter/book that will be delivered to every house in south yorks. They will be talking about the work police are doing in the community and local business' can advertise in there. (at a cost). So me being me listened to what he had to say, find it very hard to be rude on the phone lol anyway i said send me out some info and il have a look. 5 mins later a man from the 'artwork department' rang me and was very pushy in trying to get me to pay...I didnt thank god. I said i was goin to wait to see what everything looked like etc Everyday for the past week iv had a phonecall asking me if i want to take them up on there offer, wantin me to pay etc. Today i recived the letter and they have made me an advert- spelt wrong, listing treatments i dont do etc etc rang them up and said im not interested.
Well it all changed he said that i had entered a legal binding contract and that if i didnt pay it would go to court! I stilll said i would not be paying.
Im now waitin for an email from him which says that i 'entered a contract'. I DEFINATLY didnt agree to anything!!!! il keep u posted sorry its a long one. Becareful and from now on I will be puttin the phone down on anyone (accept clients)....Rant over! xxx

Just googled it and theres plenty of others who have been caught out xx

SCAM: National Crime Prevention Booklet | Adscams.co.uk - Charity Advertising Scam Warning

 

[stephaniebuddie]

Omg this is terriable. Hope everything works out for you :hug:

Thanks for sharing

 

[geeg]

Do you know, thi scam has been going on for years and years ... I fell for it at least 15 years ago. Can't believe it is still going on!!

 

[Keeley20]

My friend works for the police so forwarding everything onto them. Saying they are from the police makes people trust them...just wanted to spread the word.

Can i ask what happened to u and how did u resolve it? thanks xx

 

[stephaniebuddie]

Really? wow......im surprised that no one has stopped it yet

 

[geeg]

My friend works for the police so forwarding everything onto them. Saying they are from the police makes people trust them...just wanted to spread the word.

Can i ask what happened to u and how did u resolve it? thanks xx

If I remember we shelled out 100 for being included in some booklet or calendar or something. We never saw that of course and we never resolved anything as we had no contact details that worked. We sucked it up. We told the police but nada happened there, naturally. Live and learn. Never did anything like that again, genuine or not! Things like that do not work anyway ... they just don't. Your good work and reputation is what works !!

 

[Keeley20]

Thanks for sharing, im not surprised you were cautious after that! Like u say live and learn. Sometimes we learn from other peoples mistakes xx

 

[JHall]

This is really common have almost been caught out by the same people and recently i had a call on my mobile which was from an international number so i ignored it, they left me a voicemail claiming to be from my local church (they even named the church and town where i live) and went on to talk about advertising in a magazine its so annoying as it puts you off answering your phone which could loose you clients.

 

[sarah1988]

Omg!!! This is happening to me! They have sent me an invoice and everything saying I owe them money but I was like I haven't placed an order with u!!! There such a nightmare they ring me all the time saying about your order and I'm like I HAVE NOT PLACED ANY ORDER!! They said I've got 28 days to pay them, well that won't be happening,

 

[angelheart]

Hi, I had a voice mail left on my mobile last week saying the exact same thing ( police, parish advertsing etc ) Have not called the number back, and will not be entertaining them if they call back!! How do they get away with it???

 

[Miss Pink23]

I get these every now and then. I always just let them spout their schpeel (sp) and then say Im not interested (good job I never have).

 

[Hidden Mandy]

I've had a few calls from these so called police newsletter people too recently!! they were quite pushy but I made it very clear that I did not have any money for advertising. I only advertise in a local business directory and I approached them as I got one delivered at home so I know they're genuine!!! I really hate people who try and scam you! how on earth do they think they're gonna get away with this, sooner or later they'll come face to face with the real police then it'll be game over!!!! :irked:

 

[shedunlop]

I had this a few years ago only saying they were a Fire Service magazine. I did some checking and it didn't exist so reported it to the police. Next time they rang I told them I had reported it to the police and he put the phone down and never contacted me again! :green:

 

[sunshineinme]

I had them on the phone this week and reported then to the police! Please please do the same! You're not the only one and of we don't tell the police nothing will be done x

 

[Ruth Mills]

It's a common scam; those cold calling companies do rather like scaring people into submission by saying that you've entered into a "legally binding contract" on the phone; I'd put my money on the judge ruling in your favour and laughing them out of court if it ever got that far!

Put it this way, if it was a "verbal contract", then the only proof they would be able to provide would be a tape of your initial conversation - which anyone with half a brain cell would realise didn't make any mention of you agreeing to any contract; these low-life scum are just relying on people being naiive and scared of lawyers!

 

[Pinkbunny28]

Also impersonating a police officer is a criminal offence. So we can report them for that if not anything else.

 

[sarah1988]

I have reported them today and the police seem to be taking it very seriously! They told me if they phone me again to pass there details on and tell them to contact them as there now dealing with it!

 

[Elaine143a]

Welcome to the world of business lol!

Do not worry about this at all. After a very short time, you will learn how to deal with these scammers, as that, afterall, is what they are. Not saying that all salespeople are scammers as I used to be in sales and it is actually quite a professional and skilled occupation - if done correctly.

An interesting aside that you may find useful: I recently had one of these "scammers" cold-call me in person in the salon stating that he was working for the council. He stated that they were producing a map/leaflet or something by the council and were looking for local advertising - a bit like your Police guy - and flashed some type of badge in my face quickly to prove he was "official".

Anyway, I told him I wasn't interested.

However, at the time, I was with a nail client in front of salon and she suddenly (much to my suprise) struck up a conversation with him about his services. He got really upbeat about this, really pushy, etc, etc .......... (you can imagine), stating what he could do for her and her business .........

It transpired that she was the PA to the CE of our local council! When she asked to properly see his ID he SHOT out of the salon, bright red in the face, tail between his legs, never to be seen again :lol:

Councils, dentists, doctors etc do use marketing companies like this to advertise their services. In return, the council etc get reduced advertising fees as other businesses pay to advertise thereby reducing the originator's fees. This, however, does NOT mean the advertising companies are working for the police, council etc. They are purely an ad co. trying to selling advertising.

Sorry for long post - just hope it helps.

 

[BotoxBoy]

This has been going on for years.

A few things you need to remember. NEVER EVER pay for anything over the phone if someone is cold calling you. The main reason is you don't know who they are no matter who or what they say.

I had a call from 'Facebook' trying to get me to pay for sales etc and in the end she admitted she was working for another company 'on behalf of' Facebook!

Anyway, the Police probably aren't that interested as most of what they do is not a crime per se.

Another piece of advice is that if a company sends an invoice to you and you genuinely have not ordered anything or signed anything, then NEVER reply. If you respond to it, it gives them two things, one that they have got through to you so will pursue you even more vigorously and two you have 'acknowledged' a 'debt'.

In the UK the law is that if you do not 'acknowledge' a debt by responding then it is not legally enforceable after around six years. During that time, if it was a genuine debt from a company, the onus would be on them to prove the debt is genuine.

I can guarantee a dodgy company is not going to waste their time and spend money on chasing a debt that doesn't really exist.

The best thing to do is throw it in the bin! don't call them, don't get upset, don't write to them...let it go and they will soon give up and move on.

Scams have been going on forever from old fashioned chain letters to the almost daily emails I get telling me I have won the Nigerian lottery...AGAIN!

If I'd won all those lotteries, inherited all that cash from a relative in Ghana and could genuinely make millions from paying someone over the phone for a booklet then I wouldn't be here now...

Don't stress people and IGNORE these scammers!!!

 

[Keeley20]

Thanks for all your replies guys! Sounds like this kind of scam will always be going on but as long as people know about it then hopefully they will put the phone straight down! thanks again xx oh and surprise surprise not heard anythin else from them!