Who?
Steve Coates is - among other things - a web developer, parent, wannabe muso and anal spelling nazi from Bellingen, one of the nicest bits of Australia.
He has a keen interest in the spams and scams that are a part of modern life and in a perverse way sees a kind of beauty in a perfectly clumsy and transparent attempt to trick us out of or into something.
Lots of similarities between the only two people who’ve vocally supported directory scams on this site
Curiouser and curiouser…
I noticed this morning that yesterday someone had left comments on a number of posts on this blog, all regarding directory scams (both the Who’s Who In Australia and the World Business Guide scams).
In the space of five minutes yesterday Hector Schmidt left four comments either supporting these scams or putting down other commenters.
At 12.58 on More Fax Spam…
Not one person mentions the countless positive pages online. Just a bunch of individuals that are complaining about receiving an advertisment. No one who actually has a problem with the service, just problems with receiving a fax. This product has worked wonders for me. This site is a bunch of bloody rubbish.
then 1pm on the same post…
And why is it a hoax…. Because lots of people received it? Makes no sense what you folks say. You all sound like a bunch of whining teenagers. Grow up. If you don’t want the service, don’t respond.
then 1.02pm on World Business Guide – another fax spam directory scam…
And why is this a scam?????
and finally at 1.03om on More on the Who’s Who fax spam
YOu souns like a rocket scientist michele.
(Michele had offered the opinion that these types …
read on »World Business Guide – another fax spam directory scam
Another great directory spam came through on the fax today, this time from World Business Guide.
Always read the fine print
This one is even more blatant than similar fax spam (more), in that although they note at the top nice and clearly
To update your company profile please print, complete and return this form (UPDATING IS FREE OF CHARGE).
you need to read between the lines a little. Updating may be free of charge, but placing the listing is going to cost you €2985 – around $AUD4300! Buried at the bottom in the fine print, in all capital letters to make it hard to read, is
THE VALIDATION TIME OF THE CONTRACT IS THREE YEARS AND STARTS ON THE EIGHTH DAY AFTER SIGNING THE CONTRACT. THE INSERTION IS GRANTED AFTER SIGNING AND RECEIVING THIS DOCUMENT BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER. I HEREBY ORDER A SUBSCRIPTION WITH SERVICE PROVIDER INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORIES LTD “WORLD BUSINESS GUIDE”. I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATA BASE FOR THREE YEARS. THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO 995
I’ve bolded and underline what I’d have to describe as …
read on »ACCC report on scams in 2009
A report released today by the ACCC says that reported scams in 2009 were up 16% on the previous year. The report is available on the ACCC website (pdf link at bottom of page)
“Realistically, this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg – given people can be embarrassed about reporting that they have fallen victim to scams and lost money in the process” said ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell.
‘False billing (advertising, directories, domain names)’ came in as the 5th most compained about type of scam for 2009, with the report noting
Scammers continued to target small businesses in an attempt to trick them into paying for a listing or advertisement in a magazine, journal or business register/directory. A common example is where a small business is sent a subscription form disguised as an outstanding invoice. This is an attempt to trick the recipient into signing up for unwanted advertising services.
It’s interesting to note that the ACCC have initiated legal proceedings against one such organisation, the European City Guide.
read on »Fax Spam is not regulated in Australia
We have no laws that cover fax spam
Although Australia has a and a Spam Act which regulates unsolicited email and sms messages and a Do Not Call Register to which (private) fixed and mobile numbers can be added there is no legislation which covers unsolicited faxes at this stage.
At the time of writing, according to The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s website
read on »The Government has recently announced its intention to expand the Do Not Call Register, to cover both business numbers and fax numbers. When this is implemented, it may reduce these types of calls being made where people register their numbers.