Adams Trading Partnership and wwmdirectory.com

RadoJo · 24 August 2007 at 12:31PM

Afternoon MSEs

Our accounts department received an invoice this morning which was passed to me as I deal with our internet marketing - the invoice was from Adams Trading Partnership and referred to advertising on www.wwmdirectory.com.

I didn't recognise the name, and something seemed fishy about the description on the invoice:

Code Description Quantity Rate Amount
1 Advertising Link from Www.Wwmdirectory.com Guaranteed No 1-3 1.00 £70.36
On the relevant page of Google. Enquiries direct to client website.
Price quoted is after discount. Advertising order to be
loaded/displayed no later than 7 days from receipt of payment of this
invoice. 12 Months advertising @£70.36 Inclusive of TAX. Normal
price £199.99 + VAT. Advertising subject to adherence to our credit
terms. Order / Invoice can be cancelled on request without obligation.
Pro-forma Invoice. More Sales or Money Back Guarantee

I checked and found no evidence of an account with them, and then when I rang to check, before I had even said which company I was calling from I was told 'Oh, you wouldn't have an account with us, we just send those out to promote our services'. When I expressed the opinion that their methods were really dubious, the guy I spoke to started being rude to me and I ended up just asking him not to contact me again and hanging up.

From what I can work out, they send these 'real-looking' invoices to companies including a message saying

'Your invoice is attached. Please remit payment payable to (Adams Trading
Partnership) at your earliest convenience.
Thank you for your business - we appreciate it very much.'

Absolutely no mention of the fact that we have never even heard of this company, let alone subscribed to their services!

So, I have reported them to trading standards and let people within our organisation know to be on the look out, but I thought I would come here to let you lot know, as I imagine there would be companies where this would just be paid without checking the details!

Hope this is of some help - Trading Standards said they will contact me for more information if they take it further, so I will update if appropriate!

Here's to a stress-free bank holiday everyone!:beer:

dangeroussports · 26 August 2007 at 12:29AM

Dont they sell kiddies cloths matey ?

liz105 · 28 August 2007 at 4:53PM

I think you are thinking of Adams Childrenswear

trisontana · 28 August 2007 at 5:41PM

These fake trade directory scams have been going for years. For some strange reason many of them are based in Belgium or Switzerland.

grahamellis · 10 September 2007 at 9:35PM

Here are a couple of other links to this scam, which we received not once but twice last week. It comes with a Google logo on the paperwork to make it look official. We phoned Google, who are interested but knew nothing of it .... yet ...

http://www.wellho.net/mouth/1342_Google-wwmdirectory-Freshwater-ATP-new-scam-.html (This one contains a picture of the invoice!)

http://www.wellho.net/cgi-bin/opentalk/YaBB.pl?board=staff;action=display;num=1189348201 (and an arial photo of the holiday homes that you're supposed to send your money to)

RadoJo · 12 September 2007 at 10:07AM

Wow - it sounds like it is even more involved than I realised! It seems crazy that people would put so much effort into a scam - I would have thought an honest day's work woud be easier, although I suppose there must be high stakes involved in this kind of thing.

I just hope that between these sites we can warn enough people and hopefully make sure nobody ends up caught out paying for this 'service'.

vikingaero · 12 September 2007 at 2:27PM

Plenty of ratbag companies like this around that some companies will pay out without query because it's under a certain amount.

RadoJo · 29 February 2008 at 4:45PM

Just a quick update for a Friday afternoon - I have had another invoice from this gang, this time claiming that they are charging me for:

36 months registration fee. 'Google it' advertising link on: www.wwmdirectory.com www.tradeorlando.com and www.honeytrapagency.com

I recognised the name, and reported them once again to trading standards as they seem to be based in Chichester now and are still using the same technique. I'm not sure what has happened to the 'Adams' part, but they also mention C Wilson and Co for payment of the invoice, so keep an eye out for them too.

Here's hoping this is the last time I see one of their scam invoices, but I will be very surprised - it's just lucky that we never automatically process an invoice without it being signed off, but I am sure there are those who do.

hercs_2 · 12 April 2008 at 6:07PM

All

Just to inform all that I received a similar invoice a few months back, my 1st thought was that I always do my own marketing & never heard off this listing company before so it can't be that popular to invest money to be put on this listing,,, secondly, strange as there was no office number on the invoice only a mobile number ...

So when I rang them up I started the argument as to who are you & why have you sent me an invoice where I never requested your service,,

They replied,,, Are you telling me ?
I replied,, Yes, I'm telling you so therefore cancel this invoice
They replied,, you can only cancel the invoice on the website.
So I cancelled it the very instance.. website seems amateurish & has a lot of alias website connected to it,,,

i just checked the link & it seems to be taken off now,,,

So if anybody receives similar invoice,, Please DO NOT pay !!!!

uglydoll · 24 August 2008 at 12:41PM

RadoJo wrote: »

Just a quick update for a Friday afternoon - I have had another invoice from this gang, this time claiming that they are charging me for:

36 months registration fee. 'Google it' advertising link on: www.wwmdirectory.com www.tradeorlando.com and www.honeytrapagency.com

I recognised the name, and reported them once again to trading standards as they seem to be based in Chichester now and are still using the same technique. I'm not sure what has happened to the 'Adams' part, but they also mention C Wilson and Co for payment of the invoice, so keep an eye out for them too.

Here's hoping this is the last time I see one of their scam invoices, but I will be very surprised - it's just lucky that we never automatically process an invoice without it being signed off, but I am sure there are those who do.

I have received the exact same invoice, from Wilson Factoring / Collection agents based in Chichester. It was for an invoice for £149.99 for 36 months listing in eurobusinessmarket .com directory. Can't find a link to my website in their directory though. And I certainly did not agree anything with them, seeing as I had never heard of the company or directory...

innovative_2 · 26 August 2008 at 1:59PM

uglydoll wrote: »

I have received the exact same invoice, from Wilson Factoring / Collection agents based in Chichester. It was for an invoice for £149.99 for 36 months listing in eurobusinessmarket .com directory. Can't find a link to my website in their directory though. And I certainly did not agree anything with them, seeing as I had never heard of the company or directory...

Hello, I have read all this and just wanted to clear some doubts, this firm/company is not a scam or whatever you call it. They send you invoices as an offer now its upto receiver whether they accept the offer and make payment or either refuse it. I also received an invoice it was clearly mentioned in it that if we require service only then we have to make the payment. I got my advert published on their website, that is all that matters to me. Why dont they give their contact number or vice versa is not for my concern. So just wanted to clear that it is not good to defame someone without knowing the fact. Has any user here been into situation where this company charged them but did not provide the service. Please have a thought about it. Thanks alot!

Adams Trading Partnership and wwmdirectory.com

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