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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 3

Hi All,

New to the forum, but I have been reading your escapades for the last while. Pure hilarity.
Although I am eager to get in on the fun myself, I find myself disturbed this last week or so with a phone fraud business in Montreal. The jist of their scam is to call you up with a fast-talking salesman confirming your billing address to "re-new" your subscription. As you are confirming your billing address, they record your reply of "yes" to each portion of the address they repeat. They then follow up with a call from the billing dept. with a spliced audio version of you agreeing to the service and agreeing to a $500 invoice for the non-existent business directory CD ROM they are selling. They then put the screws to you to pay the bill or your credit rating will be raped and your reputation with your company will be messed with (as they supposedly have proof of you ordering their product).
A friend of mine fell victim to this scam a couple of years ago, so I was wise to what was happening to me about 10 second into the first call. I have not answered the phone when I see their number come up for the last week. I was hoping they would just go away, but they are reportedly very persistent.
Any suggestions on how I should mess with them? They do have a toll free fax line, so I was thinking of fax bombing them with a 25 page fax of a scanned in middle finger (lots of black to eat lots of toner).

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:41 pm

Hi and welcome to eater

Not our usual scam, but ok, do they offer a product for the charge? As in a book of businesses etc? Business directory?

What are they offering for the cost?

As you said, it is a scam, but probably better dealt with through the BetterBusinessBureau if you have one there

Canadian or USA?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 3

Canada, and they are known to the RCMP and their fraud division. I reported them already...right after the first call. A similar ring was busted there in Montreal not too long ago. It seems like Montreal is the Mecca of phone fraud.

They purport that you and or/your company is a long time subscriber to a business directory they provide. There isn't actually any product (for a nominal fee of $500).

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:04 pm

Best thing to do is just to trash any bills, let your local RCMP know, and ignore

There isn't a lot you can do about it, they make their money on the businesses that have a disconnection between incoming and outgoing payments, where an invoice is just sent for payment on presentation.

If you think they have caused any harm to your credit rating, let the credit company know that you have reported this scam to the RCMP, along with a case? number

It's an old scam, worldwide unfortunately, I've seen it in NZ, Aust, and Ireland

If you ignore it, it goes away, once you start answering, they get more and more theatening, and start with the false legal letters etc

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 3

yeah, I read all about it.

I just wanted to mess with them.

Maybe I could act mildly retarded just to eat up some of their time?

419Eater is my life Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 428

"mildly"? Try "majorly". Unless, of course, they have your personal info. In which case, drop them.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:28 pm

all it would do is waste your time, they just drop you and move on quickly, they aren't going to waste their time with people that argue or stuff them around

there are more worthy ones waiting for you in the surplus forum here

Look around the stickies, the posts with the ! sign, apply for a mentor,

we tend to go after the real scammers, take yoru time, once you start, you'll wonder where the day went, also most of your life, and who is that strange person that says they are your partner?

Take care, bait safe, have fun

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:02 pm

@booyashaka - welcome to Eater. Very Happy