Have you ever received an invoice for a business directory listing that you never ordered? Perhaps you had experienced the following scenario.
You received a phone call from a telemarketing company claiming that someone (could be your ex-employee) from your office had previously authorized the purchase of business listing in a business directory, and they would like to verify your business information, such as company name, address, telephone and fax number. This so called verification would lead you to believe that your business has already been listed in their business directory.
Shortly, you received an invoice, typically between $399 and $798, in the mail or fax for your “order”. A few days or one week later, someone from the Account Receivables department called to collect the payment for your company listing. If you refused to pay the invoice, the caller would harrass you and even threatened to initiate a legal action against you, and also forwarded your invoice to a debt-collection agency that could damage your credit rating.
Well, if this scenario happened to you, please be on your guard. You could be a victim of a business directory scam.
Here are what you should do if you received a phone call from a collector:
1. Do NOT under any circumstances send these scammers money.
2. Tell him/her that you are not going to pay for the invoice, and let this scammer know that you are going to take the actions outlined in the step 3 and 4.
3. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by visiting the the FTC website (http://www.ftc.gov) or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
4. Report the scam to your local Better Business Bureau and your state Attorney General.
Remember folks, you are NOT obliged to pay for services that you never requested or ordered. Last, your credit rating will NEVER be damaged/ruined just because of not paying this business directory scam.
To help you recognize this scam, here is a list of companies known to scam small businesses:
- ABI Publications
- B2B IPages – Chicago, IL
- Business Data Center – Plattsburgh, NY
- Canadian BizOnline
- Canadian Media Pages
- ClearView Corporate Communication, Inc. – Chicago, IL
- Canora Pages – Montreal, QC
- Commutel Marketing – Montreal, QC and Victoria, BC
- Empire Direct Group – Plattsburgh, NY
- DataSource411 – Montreal, QC and Rochester, NY
- Horizon Data Inc. – Champlain, NY
- Info US411 – Middletown, DE
- Infotel Publications – Montreal, QC
- National Business Information Exchange (NBIE) Inc. – Montreal, QC and Chesapeake Beach, MD
- Reed Publishing aka Reed Directories
- Target Publications – Ansonia, CT and Champlain, NY
- Tradeshow Data Center – Plattsburg, NJ
- YourCompanyListing.com (a spin off of NBIE Inc.) – Montreal, QC and Chesapeake Beach, MD
- YourYellowURL – Ottawa, ON and Watertown, MA
The list will go on and on… so please share with us if you know any of similiar companies.
160 Comments
March 16, 2009 at 6:05 pm
This morning I recieved a call from Ronnie Levitt from datasource 411 who was not happy about me making slanderous comments about his business. On closer inspection I realize that I did indeed falsely accuse them of setting the lawyers onto me. It seems that the lawyer is representing yet another scammer, YOURYELLOWURL. If that wasn’t enough for one day, I just received another call from YOURCOMPANYLISTING! I am about to lose my mind.
Forgive me Ronnie if I don’t get back to you. I am the last person you want to talk to on the phone right now. I will be busy for the rest of the day reporting these companies and hopefully getting them the hell off my back.
March 15, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Please add North American Directory Assistance. Same scenario. A phone call to verify address. The caller said this was the “final” invoice for a two-year aggreement and we owed $784.00. I had never heard of them and “Randal” told me that they had a previous name earlier but he could not recall. No proof whatsoever of having signed up for anything or any previous invoice was ever found in my records. They have not produced anything like this either although I requested it. Anyways, this is a scam. Please pass it on.
PS. I emailed this article to them.
March 14, 2009 at 11:17 am
North American Directory Assistance is a scam to be aware of. Called and stated that they were about to send the “final” invoice of $784.00 for a directory listing someone from our company signed up for two years ago. Major pressure from them to verify my company address and after several phone calls to my phone, I caved in and gave it to them. Even after my many calls to their office, no one person could help me determine who or when we had previously signed up for this directory. Of course, the invoice followed as well as a reminder. I will not be paying this. I printed this article out and faxed it to them. Hopefully, they know that they are busted.
March 13, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Not from a lawyer but for a fee you can get a lawyer to write a collection letter to almost anyone on your behalf.
Whether or not they actually want to go into a court and try to explain to a judge (magistrate) how they got your info in the first place (probably off the net somewhere) , play a fuzzy recording of you as a verbal agreement (if they have one) and unable to produce a signed proof of purchase (authorization) depends on how stupid they really are ..
March 12, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Thank you so much everyone!!
I have been trying to work out what the f*%@$ Datasource 411 is and why they think that we owe them $787.45!
Yesterday we received a letter from a lawyer(George Calaritis) threatening to throw a lawsuit at us if we didn’t make payment in full within 15 days. I was livid! After calling these clowns back and basically being treated like an idiot, I searched around and found this site.
Thanks again! Now I know this is all a scam.
Anyone else received a letter from lawyers?
March 12, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Just got a call from Infolink,aka,Reed Publishing and I looked them up on the internet,they are nothing but scams.Never ordered from them.I checked the BBB website and they have lots of complaints,some lady named Patricia Nuntal is the principal contact,when they call,tell them you will notify the BBB and the FTC,I will not pay their stupid bill,let them take me to court…ditto on American Media pages,aka Horizon Data,I dealt with some bimbo named Andrea,she is in customer service aparantly,I will get the word out.
March 11, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Sorry to say yet another one cropped up..
http://www.canorapages.com.
Grossly overcharging for the same listing that is available free on the Internet by doing a search (company name,address,phone number and a ling to a Google map even though the location shown on the map is incorrect).
Just a heads up.
March 11, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Well I’m going through the same crap with this company and cant for the life of me remember any part of sky publishing it sounds just like the rest thay call and say its due 399.99 pay now by phone or send a checkand also thay have one invoice # and talking bout another invoice # BEWARE OF THESE CREEPS
March 6, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Please add:
Empire Direct Group
225 Distribution Way
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
1-888-270-5824
I am not paying them.
February 27, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Add to the list:
Monarch Media Group
Empiregroup Direct
National Online Pages
Everybody, PLEASE: It only takes a few minutes to file a complaint with the United States Federal Trade Commission on line:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Do NOT pay any of their “invoices,” “past due notices,” etc.
They CANNOT harm your credit rating.
Hang up. If they continue, report their harrassing telephone calls to local and/or state police agencies.
February 24, 2009 at 9:30 pm
It’s sad that I feel better knowing I’m not crazy.
Add to the list:
Direct Data Pages.com
ABI Publishing (been mentioned)
Your Yellow URL
I did call the RCMP and they said they don’t deal with these kinds of frauds. (I’m sure they would if it was TD Bank).
I have placed at call to the Toronto Police Fraud Squad to see if they are more interested in stopping this.
My next call is to the media outlets. Maybe THEN someone will care!
February 20, 2009 at 6:18 pm
We are now dealing with Direct Data Pages. Or Alerias (sp.) or whatever they call themselves this week. They did manage to send me a very garbled recording of the “verbal agreement” – totally leading I might add, but that’s to be expected.
We are not paying. Everytime they call I just say I have no idea what they are talking about and to contact our accounting department. Our accounting department then tells them they have no idea what they are talking about and to contact me.
And around and around we go.
It’s actually getting kind of amusing now.
This has been going on for months. When I get bored I’ll tell them I’m filing a complaint with the Comeptition Bureau (and I actually will, too).
Then we’ll see what happens.
February 20, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Just got a scam call from easyyellowpages.com as well. Beware. They told me we already had a listing. I went to the website while I was on the phone and couldn’t find our business. When I asked her she said the “computer pulls it off the website while they ‘update’ our information. These people make me ill- liars, cheaters, scammers. They give a bad name to the online yellow pages industry.
February 14, 2009 at 12:05 am
anyone had any dealings with
OISPAGES
Your Online Business Solution…
to me it looks like the same kind of scam, I have no clue when I signed up for this company or where they got my number from
February 12, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Also another current company going about scamming is InfoLink aka InfoLink411 which is probably the same as the InfoTel family of scammers. Be on the lookout for these people as well!
February 11, 2009 at 2:26 am
Neo,
I have personally delt with canbiz.
They call you up to tell you they are updating a listing that i’ve never had.
They do a fast 2 minute recording and hang up before you can argue.
when you do call back any no’s or arguments aren’t on the tape.. strange..
and funny enough for my 2 year listing set at 299 or something along those line we ended up paying them almost 5 times… they called saying it was my second edition.. third edition… finally i told them where they can stick their editions….. They are a complete scam. And if you don’t pay they will call you and try to charge you interest…
DONT PAY THEM! THEY WILL JUST KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE!!!
February 10, 2009 at 7:04 pm
CANADIAN MEDIA PAGES…
dont confirm anything! a complete bunch of scam artists.
February 8, 2009 at 10:06 pm
“How do these people sleep at night!”
On the piles of $$’s they manage to scam of unsuspecting and honest people who think they are obligated to pay because of threats of legal action.
If only there were someway to warn the general population of these scams.
Seems that once you refuse to pay and they end up deleting your name from a list that gets circulated.
February 5, 2009 at 11:09 pm
We have been having sporadic and ongoing encounters with Can BizOnline and recently (this morning) ABI Publishing. I have reported both these incidents now to the sites suggested and want to REALLY thank whomever is responsible for the origional posting. As many other have stated this made me feel alot better knowing this was a total scam. It always had that weird feeling about it.
In any case after informing “STACY BECKER” that we would not only not be paying the amount and would also be reporting this scam to the RCMP etc and that I only found THIS web page when searching for ABI publications and then hung up.
I promptly received a second fax stating while they “do not agree with” my “testimony” (are they already worried about being in court?) and that they have removed our listing(which they havent) and added us to their “do not call list” and then stated “We trust this is sufficient to resolve the complaint” . Sadly for them I emailed them back stating I had already reported them.
Unreal! How do these people sleep at night!
February 4, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Hey, everybody.
Watch out for “Easy Yellow Pages.com.” They just called and wanted to verify some information to send out an invoice for next month’s bill. Of course, I let him know that we only use free advertising and he of course, hung up before I could even finish my sentence.
Add them to the list too.
I guess this is their website. It’s actually kind of cute.
http://www.easyyellowpages.com/
February 3, 2009 at 1:15 am
Thanks for all your stories. Very helpful. Do add Canadian Mediapages to the illegitimate files. I sent them a fax of this blog, with the comments made about their practices and within 2 hrs received a fax which cancelled their bogus invoice that they were aggressively pursuing!!
They use the same MO as described above: confirm business name & address with receptionist, lead the unwary to agree that an invoice can be sent (they are thinking it is for something the manager ordered or reordered). When the Manager catches wind of an unauthorized purchase, the mediapages rep (who by the way never has a last name on the faxed invoices) uses a CLIP of a taped conversation with your unwary staff to ‘prove’ and intimidate that a purchase was authorized, when in fact all your staff authorized was that yes, an invoice can be mailed to our address. This rep was aggressive and effective in trying to induce guilt ‘we have already done your advertising for you’; ‘I have taped proof that your staff authorized’, etc etc. Do not fall for it. If they seriously wanted to do business, they would ask for a PO, not tape a conversation in which they lead the caller into authorizing the mailing of an invoice.
Refuse to pay, and the next call you make is to the local Better Business Bureau. They confirmed that there are active issues with Canadian Mediapages, and directed me to report this as an Economic crime to 1 888 495-8501 (Phonebusters, an RCMP initiative). This line was very busy, but instructed that an online report is also available at http://www.recol.ca (report economic crimes on line). The online reporting is simple (need to register first) and so worth it!
Remember that each invoice may be small, but if we allow them to get away with it they are making a killing at being essentially, criminals.
January 29, 2009 at 5:35 pm
These scammers are scum.
Report them to the Competition Bureau: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/PJSH-6X9KQY
January 20, 2009 at 12:10 am
Thanks to everyone for the info posted on this site. It has been a great help.
I had a call from DataSource 411 a few days ago, wanting to “update” our organization’s info. I work for a board run non-profit organization and am new, but am also the only employee. When I said we were board run and I couldn’t make any purchasing decisions, I was assured that I was only being sent a proof of our listing and that the board would have final say. Then I got the third-party call asking me to verify the address and was asked if I had purchasing authority. I said no, the board has to approve all of our purchases. The caller said she’d have to transfer the file back to the rep then.
The next day the same rep called, and again said that I just had to verify the address so the proof could be sent, and that she would be attaching a business card so I could take it to our next board meeting. I once again said I could not make purchasing decisions and clarified the board would be able to make the final decision regarding the actual purchase of the advertising. I was assured that it would be noted in the file that the board had to approve the purchase. However, she said the third party who would call to verify the address had no access to the file and that I just had to say yes to the purchase so the proof could be sent out.
When the third party called later to verify the address and asked if I was authorized to purchase, I was still hesitant but finally said yes, sort of, that the rep and I had discussed it.
Of course, when I called the woman who does our bookkeeping, it turns out we’ve never been listed with them before.
When I did a search on the site, our organization was not listed, so I printed off the web page and took a screen shot showing the date and time. I’ve already emailed, saying I was clearly lied to and tomorrow morning, I’ll be calling them. I have a digital recorder and this time I’LL BE THE ONE RECORDING THE PHONE CALL!
We’ll see what happens. At least I know if we do get an invoice that I don’t really need to worry about it.
January 19, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Just to follow up my previous note since I can’t edit it – my client contacted the RCMP’s “Economic Crimes On-Line” unit (http://www.recol.ca/) and let each company know that he’d done so. He happily reports that he’s no longer being called, faxed etc. asking for money for any of these online directories. Also, a lawyer for JW Publications contacted me after coming across this web page and suggested that his client runs a legitimate operation; he feels JW shouldn’t be grouped with these directory scams. That’s all the information I have – hopefully others will find it helpful.
January 17, 2009 at 5:54 am
I am having the same problem as every business owner. Canadian Bizonline is a member of the BBB. This company uses unethical business practices. I have never heard of them, (they must have got my information from Canada411) and yet they claimed that I agreed to get their service. I sent them a registered letter and they claimed that they did not get it. Guess what I did…I faxed the Company person who signed for the registered cancellation letter. Now they are saying that I cannot cancel and they are the only one that could cancel me. Everyone knows that you have the right to cancel something without a contract. It states on their invoice this is a final sale. The cancellation of any subscription can only be done only after the end of the first term. Remember one thing this is an invoice not a signed contract. I mailed them another registered letter with Canada post. It tells me when they received my cancellation notice. They must have people that work their that cannot read a cancellation letter. The person that works and calls us everyday with a PRIVATE number thinks that it was mailed to a wrong address. Shouldn’t this letter come back to me, are they that silly to believe that Canada Post would not return my registered letter. I asked them to produce a signed contract agreeing to their terms. They claimed that it was a verbal agreement. I refuse to speak with this person that harasses my employee’s everyday. I only respond to their fax so I have it in writing. As many people know companies make you sign a contract, so you understand what kind of services you are getting and terms. I know that they cannot go to a collection agency without a signed contract. We could all get together with a class action suit, so we could stop this fraudulent company. I have so much documentation against this company it is so sickening and yet the BBB has them as a member. I have placed a complaint with BBB. The way to stop this company is to go after them in court, so we get compensated for the entire headache they put on the small business owners.
January 16, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I think that it would be very nice if there was a list of all those companies that are pulling the scams
January 16, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Found this site by Google-ing the companies in question. Thanks for the confirmation!
Here are the recent ones:
“Directory of American Business”
“American Business Directory” – ABI Publications
“Saturn Exchange, Inc”
“National Pages”
“Info US 411″
January 16, 2009 at 8:23 pm
add two more to the list, same scenerio as all the others.
Data Express
U S Data
January 13, 2009 at 3:21 am
Add two more scam companies:
Info US411 364 E. Main St. Ste 307, Middletown, DE
B2B IPages 125 S. Wacker Dr. Ste 300 Chicago, IL 60606
Both these companies contacted us by phone, using the same line of renewing an online directory website. Info US 411 was stupid enough to send an order confirmation, order cancellation and a past due notice all dated the same date.
I’m so glad I found this site, because our company has been taken in too many times. No more!!
January 8, 2009 at 2:40 am
We to have been bothered by Data Source 411. I refused to pay them and had a lengthy conversation with a lady. She got so mad and hung up on me. It has been 4 months since I heard from her or them. Do not pay them pr any other company.