The Seven Signs of an Advertising Scam

Devon Trading Standards has noticed a recent rise in the number of advertising scams being reported by Devon businesses.

There have been a number of scammers over the years who have triedthis trick to get money out of businesses. However as they often work from similar scripts when calling your business, there are warning signs which can alert you before you end up losing any money….

How the scam works:

The Scammer coldcalls a business and asks if it is interested in purchasing advertising in a publication. Whether or not the business agrees the scammer then contacts them again stating that in the previous call they agreed to a verbal contract and that they must now pay. The advertising is rarely if ever distributed. If the business does not pay the scammer then bombards them with telephone calls and letters containing threats of legal action, in the hope that they will “give up”. If the business does pay they will have their name sold on to dozens of other scammers who will also call them and try the same trick.

The warning signs:

1)The Scammers often claim to be working on behalf of a good cause. This is to help get their targets’ sympathy. Recent common examples used have included books for schools, anti drug booklets, anti bullying booklets, police and emergency services publications. Some of the scammers have even claimed to be police officers.

2)The Scammer will claim to have a recording of your voice agreeing to the contract and this will be the evidence that will prove their case in court. In some instances this recording does not exist. A good indication of this would be if the trader is reluctant to play it to you or demands that you first pay a fee before you can be sent a transcript or recording. In other cases there is a recording of you answering a few leading questions but it is obvious that this is not the entire of the conversation.

3)The approach is out of the blue. Business advertising scammers like to catch small businesses when they are busy, sometimes a sales person will arrive at the business but more often it is a cold call over the telephone.

4)It will not be any publication you have heard of. Most of the publications the adverts will supposedly be put in either do not exist or if they do are never distributed anywhere a potential customer is likely to see them. The business is unlikely to get any benefit from the advert, it purely exists as an excuse for the scammer to threaten legal action.

5)They claim that you have already agreed to a contract when you cannot remember having ever spoken to them before, possibly some time ago. Many scammers do not even bother with the initial enquiry.

6)They are aggressive and persistent in their pursuit of the “debt”. They will claim they are going to get their debt collector onto you. Then they will contact you again, now claiming to be the debt collector. The scammer is aware they have little or no chance of winning their case in court, although they may threaten court action frequently, it is rarely if ever carried out. The scam works by getting the business to pay up before this point. Remember no “debt collector” has any powers without first obtaining a court judgement.

7)If you do agree to any advertising with them. You will then be cold called by what is apparently the same company asking you to confirm your details. They will then claim that by doing this you have agreed to a second contract with a separate company. They often try this several times.

Remember even if these signs are not present the company you are dealing with may still not be legitimate. We would advise you do not agree to any advertising contract unless it is in writing and you know where it is going to be distributed. There is no point in paying for an advert if nobody ever sees it.

What to do when you are dealing with a Business Advertising Scammer:

  • Do not pay them any money or give them any bank details. This will only result in them selling your details to other scammers as a potential easy mark.
  • Do not waste your time trying to argue with them or engage in long telephone conversations. The scammer wants to waste your time and get you stressed because they hope this will persuade you to pay them to save trouble. They are often reading their answers off a script anyway so they will probably already have a pre-prepared answer for anything you are likely to say. If they will not stop ringing it is better to put the phone to one side than put it down, that way they will not be able to press redial to get back to you. The less reaction you give them the less they are likely to pursue you.
  • If you have an address send a single letter stating that no contract exists and that they are to remove your name from their database. Do not respond to any further correspondence unless it actually comes from a court.
  • Pass the information about this scam onto your staff.
  • Report the company to Trading Standards via Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.