Trading Standards issue scams warning

The Training Standards Service is urging local businesses to be wary of a number of scams which are operating across Northern Ireland.

Kevin McNamara of Trading Standards said the latest scams are going to “considerable length” to look legitimate but are all working to the same end, "namely to part local businesses from their hard earned money".

The scams include:

• bogus registration mailshots – these may look like they have been issued by an official body using names such as the Data Protection Agency, and ask businesses to forward a fee for registration purposes etc.
• cold calls – an unsolicited telephone call leads to businesses unwittingly ordering goods or services. Goods are dispatched to the business, followed by a request for payment.
• bogus invoices – a fake invoice is sent to a business in the hope that payment is made. The amounts requested are usually small enough not to attract suspicion or require referral to a senior level.
• deceptive directory mailshots – the most persistent example of this is the European City Guide, now based in Valencia, Spain. The Guide sends out forms to local businesses asking them to check if the details held are correct and then to sign and return the form. However, terms hidden in the small print state that, by returning the form, businesses are agreeing to their details appearing in the next three editions of the Guide, at a cost of more than £1,800.
• bogus website registrations – businesses are contacted by telephone about their internet domain name. The caller claims to represent domain name registration agents and says that a request has been received to register a domain name very close to that of your business but that for a fee, which may be up to £150, the agent can protect the business’s name.

Mr McNamara has said anyone with information with regard to the above scams should contact Consumerline on 0845 600 6262.

(MB/SP)