We're all aware of the classic internet scam - someone offering you something great... just fill in this form etc.

Well there's currently one in circulation which is not so obviously a scam. It seems pretty legitimate and if you own a business then it's the kind of thing that you might want to sign up to. We received this email this morning:

----[START OF EMAIL]----

Ladies and Gentlemen.

In order to have your company inserted in the registry of World Businesses
for 2010/2011 edition, please print, complete and submit the enclosed
form (PDF file) to the following address:

WORLD BUSINESS GUIDE
P.O. Box 2021
3500 GA Utrecht
The Netherlands

----[END OF EMAIL]----

I thought I'd investigate, after all if there is a register for businesses then I'm interested! What I discovered on various forums on google was that even though it suggests registration is free, once you've signed up you get an invoice. People are loosing between £300 and £2000 pounds! Now here's the interesting part. Their contract is misleading in that it states at the top that "UPDATING IS FREE OF CHARGE" but when you read the very small print at the bottom of the form it states that "THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO
995" and that the duration is 3 years! But apart from misleading contracts (which are illegal in certain countries) they also used spamming techniques to distribute their email in the first place, which is again against the law.

So what's the problem?

The database they hold may well exist and they are in appearance at least a company that exists (offices in Spain and Netherlands). The problem is that a lot of people are subscribing to what they believe is a free service and then finding out that they now are in a contract with a company invoicing them for £thousands.

If you don't mind paying money for a service that doesn't deliver then there is no problem ;).

So what do I do if I receive an invitation email?

The simple answer is ignore it. If you want to you could always counter invoice them for wasting your time with spam.

What do I do if I have already been scammed and have an invoice from them?

We can't give you legal advice, we suggest you look on the links below and make your own judgement. It seems though that no one has been prosecuted by them for non-payment, probably they know it would never stand in court as they are in the wrong. Remember though that you have signed a contract with a company, and it's your fault if you didn't read the small print. Still it seems that you are in the majority and many people are successfully not paying.

How to find out more about this scam

There's lots out there on the forums so simply search for "World Business Guide Scam" on Google. Here are a few useful links I've found about this...

PamsPalm forum discussion

Stop EU Business Services page