Directory scam: Business Registration 2012

July 9, 2012 3 Comments


MX Lab, http://www.mxlab.eu, has intercepted emails from the World Trade Register, a business directory. Be aware, this is the same scam as the European Trade Register, World Trade Register, World Company Register or the World Business Directory (perhaps we have a few more), all related to EU Business Services Ltd.

The email came from “World Trade Register <register@wtrlisting.eu>” with the subject “Business Registration 2012″ and the following body:

Dear Madam/Sir,

In order to have your company inserted in the World Trade Register’s 2012/2013 edition, please print, complete and return the enclosed form to the following address:

World Trade Register
P.O. Box 3079
3502 GB Utrecht
The Netherlands

email: register@wtrlisting.eu
Fax: +31 205 248 107
Business Registration 2012/2013

Updating is free of charge!

To unsubscribe, please send an email to remove@wtrlisting.eu

Again, the attached PDF allows you to update your listing in this directory but be aware that by signing this document you are entitled to pay the sum of € 995 for 3 years! The small letters all the way down:

THE INSERTION IS GRANTED AFTER SIGNING AND RECEIVING THIS DOCUMENT BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER. I HEREBY ORDER A SUBSCRIPTION WITH SERVICE PROVIDER EU BUSINESS SERVICES LTD “WORLD TRADE
REGISTER” I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATABASE FOR THREE YEARS. THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO 995.

At the top left (just under Data Control) you will find the text – quite important if you ask me but also very confusing:

To update your company profile, please print, complete and return this form. Updating is free of charge. Only sign if you want to place an insertion.

Also, in our blog comments, a lot of people who have signed the document, ignore all payment requests from this company because the way they handle subscriptions and insertions is misleading.

Furthermore, the web site of the World Trade Register can now be found on wtrlisting.eu – yes, a brand new domain name again – registered according to a WHOIS on the 9th July 2012.

Our recommendation is: don’t sign the document and even better, don’t do any business with this company.

Filed under Spam Tagged with , , , , , ,

Directory scam: Euro Trade Register Update 2012

April 23, 2012 2 Comments


MX Lab, http://www.mxlab.eu, has intercepted emails from the European Trade Register, a business directory. Be aware, this is the same scam as the World Trade Register, World Company Register or the World Business Directory (perhaps we have a few more), all related to EU Business Services Ltd.

I must admit, they are persistent, the guys at EU Business Services Ltd. After so many years they are ‘still in business’ even if the trick they use is misleading and you can find a lot of stories on the internet.

The email came from “Sophie Grand <email2@ertserver4.net>” with the subject “Euro Trade Register Update 2012″ and the following body:

Ladies and Gentlemen.

In order to have your company inserted in the registry of World Businesses
for 2012/2013 edition, please print, complete and submit the attached
form (PDF file) to the following address:

European Trade Register
P.O. BOX 3079
3502 GB, UTRECHT
THE NETHERLANDS

email: register@etr-now.com
fax: +31 (20) 524-8107

Updating is free of charge!

If you are not the intended recipient, please submit an email to
unsubscribe@etr-now.com
Your request shall be dealt with accordingly.

Message ID: Lnnqo

The domain etr-now.com resolves to hxxp://www.europeantraderegister.net/.

Attached to the email there is a PDF.

At the top right you have the following note:

To update your company profile, please print, complete and return this form. Updating is free of charge. Only sign if you want to place an insertion.

Notice the text “Updating is free of charge” and “Only sign if you want to place an insertion.” Here is where the trouble and misleading starts. You can update for free but if you sign you agree to have an insertion.

Keep reading further dow, where the small letters are.

The second item you need to read is the following part of the text regarding the order:

I HEREBY ORDER A SUBSCRIPTION WITH SERVICE PROVIDER
EU BUSINESS SERVICES LTD “EUROPEAN TRADE REGISTER”. I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATABASE FOR THREE YEARS. THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO 990. THE SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY EXTENDED EVERY YEAR FOR ANOTHER YEAR,
UNLESS SPECIFIC WRITTEN NOTICE IS RECEIVED BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER OR THE SUBSCRIBER TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE EXPIRATION OF THE SUBSCRIPTION.

This is  what they mean with “insertion”. You will pay € 990 per year for this directory during 3 years!

So, before you sign, read the small letters.

Many people, also based on the blog comments, simply see the “Updating is free of charge” and they fill the details and sign the document while not be aware that they sign for an insertion.

Also, in our blog comments, a lot of people who have signed the document, ignore all payment requests from this company.

Our recommendation is: don’t sign the document and even better, don’t do any business with this company.

Filed under Spam, Various Tagged with , , , , ,

Directory scam: registration for the World Trade Register’s 2012/2013

February 14, 2012 41 Comments


MX Lab, http://www.mxlab.eu, reported earlier in the past of directory scams to register your company “for free”. But when sending back the document, you really agree to get involved into a commitment for several years while paying each year a significant amount for the registration.

MX Lab is intercepting these messages on a regular base and from time to time we see that the sending email address is changed, the company name get changed,… but in fact the scam is the same: lure people into signing an agreement and get their money. This time it is no different with the “World Trade Register’s 2012/2013 edition”.

The email is send from the address”World Trade Register <register@2business-list.com>”, while the domain 2business-list.com is registered on 03-feb-2012,  and has the following body:

Dear Madam/Sir,

In order to have your company inserted in the World Trade Register’s 2012/2013 edition, please print, complete and return the enclosed form to the following address:

World Trade Register
P.O. Box 3079
3502 GB Utrecht
The Netherlands

email: register@2business-list.com
Fax: +31 205 248 107
Business Registration 2012/2013

Updating is free of charge!

To unsubscribe, please send an email to remove@2business-list.com

Attached to the email is the PDF document wtr2012.pdf.

The first item you will need to be carefull with is at the top of the document on the left:

To update your company profile, please print, complete and return this form. Updating is free of charge. Only sign if you want to place an insertion.

Notice the part “Updating is free of charge” and “Only sign if you want to place an insertion.” It is quite obvious and self explaining for everyone, isn’t it? But keep reading further dow, where the small letters are.

The second item you need to read is the following part of the text regarding the order:

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 EU BUSINESS SERVICES LTD “WORLD TRADE REGISTER” I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATABASE FOR THREE YEARS. THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO 995.

What does this mean? According to the document, when it is returned back with your signature, your entry in the World Trade Register is subject to a contract with EU Business Services Ltd for the next 3 years with a price tag of 995 Euro per year.

Now I suppose that anyone would sign this because of the “clear instructions” and the lay out of the document. This is a malicious technique in order to get companies signed to a contract of 995 Euros per year and again, we expect that some people will be fooled by this way of working.

Our recommendation is: don’t sign the document and don’t do business with this company.

Filed under Spam, Various Tagged with , , ,

Directory scam: Registration of the World Business Directory 2010/2011

March 9, 2010 99 Comments


MX Lab reported in 2009 about the misleading marketing trick that the World Business Directory uses. Guess what, they are back!

MX Lab received a new registration form from the World Business Directory and again, we want to point out a few things before you sign their contract.

The email comes from info@companyworld2010.com, with the subject “Registration of the World Business Directory 2010/2011″ and this is the email content:

Dear Madam/Sir,

In order to have your company registered in the World Business
Directory for 2010/2011, please print, complete and return the
enclosed form (PDF file) to the following address:

World Business Directory
Suite 149 – Rosden House – 372 Old Street
EC1V 9AU / London – United Kingdom
E-mail: office@companyworld2010.com
Fax: +44 207 806 8157

Updating is free of charge!

To unsubscribe, please send an email to
unsubscribe@companyworld2010.com

Attached is a PDF file named world-businessdirectory.pdf.

The 1st point that needs your attention is the text block 1:

To update your company profile, please print, complete and return
this form (Updating is free of charge). Only sign if you want to
place an insertion.

As you can read, updating is free of charge but if you want your company get listed in this directory you will need to sign and have to pay.

What is the price of this directory you may ask yourself? Well, you have to go to text block 2 with the very small letters and this includes:

I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATA BASE FOR THREE YEARS. THE PRICE PER YEAR IS GBP 980.

And there you have it, this contract will cost your business a total amount of GBP 2940 over 3 years. After the 3 years subscription you can stop your contract if you inform them on time:

THE SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY EXTENDED EVERY YEAR FOR ANOTHER YEAR, UNLESS SPECIFIC WRITTEN NOTICE IS RECEIVED BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER OR THE SUBSCRIBER TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE EXPIRATION OF THE SUBSCRIPTION.

A few arguments from our side that this is a scam:

The from email address contains the domain companyworld2010.com and when trying to see if there is a site online we got the notification “This account has been suspended”. We might see new emails from the World Business Directory appear with other domains.

When getting some WHOIS information on the domain we got the following:

Registrant:
 international group c/o Free Private Reg
 P.O. Box 81024
 Burnaby, BC V5H 4K2
 CA

 Domain name: COMPANYWORLD2010.COM

 Administrative Contact:
    boot, cornelis  companyworld2010.com@freeprivateregistration.com
    P.O. Box 81024
    Burnaby, BC V5H 4K2
    CA
    852-3594-1708
 Technical Contact:
    Hostmaster, Domain  hostmaster@doteasy.com
    Suite 210 - 3602 Gilmore Way
    Burnaby, BC V5G 4W9
    CA
    (604) 434-4307    Fax: (604) 608-6832

 Registrar of Record: In2net Network Inc.
 Record last updated on 05-Mar-2010.
 Record expires on 05-Mar-2011.
 Record created on 05-Mar-2010.

 Domain servers in listed order:
    DNS8.DOTEASY.COM   65.61.199.14
    DNS7.DOTEASY.COM   65.61.198.14

 Domain status: clientTransferProhibited
                clientUpdateProhibited

The registrant information is rather vague and points to a PO Box and the administrative contact has the same address. The domain freeprivateregistration.com in the email address of the administrative contact is just a domain alias from doteasy.com. These details must be fake.

In 2009, the PDF document needed to be returned to an address in The Netherlands, in this 2010/2011 edition it needs to be returned to an address in London, UK.

When visiting their site at http://www.world-businessdirectory.com/ on the ‘About us’ page we found the following text:

The World Business Directory online is product of EU Business Services Ltd, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Nevis, West Indies.

We also  found the UK address on the ‘Contact us’ page.

Our recommendation is: don’t sign the document and don’t do business with this company.

Follow these guidelines if  you are a victim of this directory scam:

  • Do not pay, even if they imply to take your case to court.
  • If you have paid a certain amount, stop the next payments. Expect that you won’t get a refund either.
  • Send them a letter informing them you have been misled and telling them to cancel the contract.
  • If possible, report to (local) authorities.

Additional information:

Stop EU Business Services Ltd Trading As World Business Directory
Stop world-businessdirectory.com

On the web site of Richard Corbett you can find some background information about directory scams and what to do when you are a victim of such a scam.

Filed under Various Tagged with , , ,

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