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Avoid the Scam - European Business Guide / European City Guide  by Neil Pfister    16/10/09
The scenario: A company based in Holland, Spain or Romania sends you a document, unsolicited, inviting you to update your business contact details. You correct these details, sign the form and send it back. Just a week later an invoice arrives demanding payment of thousands of Euros for inclusion in their European Directory. They send you a copy of your completed form, and, to your horror, there appears to be contractual terms in tiny print on the back.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, you are not alone. This scam has hit many businesses and professionals in the last few years, and the fraudsters behind it have been forced to set up new companies in different European jurisdictions, as they are moved on from one country to the next in light of their activities. Their bank accounts are based in Nevis in the West Indies and it appears that their main office is somewhere in Romania. Incarnations of the company includes:
  • EU Company Directory
  • Euro Business Guide
  • European City Guide
  • World Business Directory
  • EU Business Services Ltd
  • …and much, much more - full details at the end of this item.
On the face of it, they are correct in their claim that there appears to be a valid contract. There is an offer, that offer is accepted by virtue of your signature, and there is consideration for inclusion in the 'Guides'. They do even produce an actual European Business Guide / European City Guide (depending on the invoice that you have been sent). However, such is the construction of the 'contract' that it is very unlikely to be held up as valid in Court.

But why do we say just 'unlikely'? It is because to date there have been no claims brought in the Courts successfully challenging its validity. The options facing you are therefore to pay the invoice, bury your head and hope that they stop pestering you for money, or do something about it.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that they will stop pestering you, as our experience has shown that they will keep sending you aggressive emails and letters, often from threatening debt recovery agencies, sometimes even from 'lawyers'.

However, in the last few years, we have specialised in dealing with this organisation and similar European directory scams. For a fixed fee of £150 + VAT we will act on your behalf in formally rescinding the purported 'contract' and filing a claim against the company with the relevant national advertising standards authority. To date we have a 100% success rate and have stemmed the flow of debt recovery letters being sent to clients.

The full list of companies / organisations that appear to be involved in this scam includes:
  • European City Guide
  • E.C.G., S.L.
  • Novachannel AG
  • Construct Data (The Fair Guide)
  • TVV Telefax Directory
  • International Business and Trade Databases
  • Intercable Verlag AG
  • IT & T International Fax Directory
  • UTP Digital Directories
  • Med1web
  • Deutscher Adressdienst GmbH / DAD
  • EU Company Directory / Euro Business Guide
  • Easy Pages Ltd.
  • Expo-Guide
  • World Business Directory
  • Gravis Inkasso Gmbh
  • Premium Recovery AG
  • Ovag International AG
If you have been contacted by one or more of these companies, please contact us immediately to discuss.

For more details or information on the above, please contact Neil Pfister at ncp@awb.co.uk or telephone on 01483 302345.