Over the past 6 years, this scam has been called Euro Business Guide and World Business Directory, claiming thousands of victims and making thousands of dollars in the process. Why change a winning formula? In 2011 it’s back as the World Business Guide.
The email states:
In order to have your company inserted in the registry of World Businesses for 2011/2012 edition, please print, complete and submit the enclosed form (PDF file) to the following address:
WORLD BUSINESS GUIDE
P.O. BOX XXXX
XXXX GB, XXXX
THE NETHERLANDS
email: register@XXXXXXXX.com
FAX: +31 (X0) XXX-XXXX
Of course, many different domains are used to avoid blocking. The body looks legit and it’s FREE. Except – let’s take a look at the PDF form:
The fax number appears in 4 different places, so they really want you to send it back! There’s no mention of price, credit card number or payment info, but let’s read the fine print:
‘I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATA BASE FOR THREE YEARS, THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO 995. 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.’
That’s right: over $1300 US for a minimum of 3 years with an auto-renewal. People don’t usually read the fine print and say, ‘Hey, this could push our business over the edge!’ Over the years, we’ve seen a similar approach with fake domain renewals, where finance departments simply renew without question to avoid losing the domain. What they don’t realize is that they’re paying 4-5 times the norm while also agreeing to transfer the domain to another provider.
So let’s get back to our sample. You signed the form and received the bill for 995 Euros. You want to dispute it? You go to their official website to complain, open the browser to their site and! OOPS! The guide’s official site is blocked by most URL filtering software.
A friend had to get his lawyer involved to extricate himself from this scam, and he lost far more than 995 Euros.
If you get caught in this nightmare, Google ‘World Business Guide scam’ or check out the anti-scam groups on Facebook and other sites to get more info.
Please, i need your help. I received in January this email and i guess that fill this form was absolutely free, i have sent i t back signed but after i received the invoice to pay.Until now i am still receiving fax, emails and bill to pay. I am really scared cause my boss doesn’t know anything about this i am working for hima as a secretary. but i didn’t know that this guide has to be paid.please help me and tell me what i can do to cancel all this without letting know anything to my boss! thanks.
Hello,
You can try to contact them to have it cancelled. You’ll probably get away for the next renewal, but the current unpaid invoice might be hard to avoid. You can check the web for similar experience from others and how they got rid of that scam. After years of lawsuits, they might be more open and have it cancelled for you.
If the simple way failed, the second thing you have to do (and it’s the LAST thing you WANT to do) is to warn your boss about it. An unpaid invoice can become a nightmare.
Good luck and let us know how it went!