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escortg3 · 4 October 2010 at 2:00PM

We have had someone call from the so called police saying we promised to place an advert and that we owe them £100.00

They even sent us a little book and said after we had paid they would add our advertisement to this book. They have phoned many times asking for money and my partner has told them we did not ask for advertising.

The coincidence here is prior to these calls we had actually sponsored and paid the police to a advert in local policing magazine. Now this was legite and we saw the completed mag delivered to many houses.

So strange that after, we were getting calls from so called police quite demanding and when i said my partner would ring them back they wouldnt leave any number for us to ring them back on.

Rookieboy · 9 October 2010 at 4:04PM

Good work Blue Banana, keep us in the loop

Brodiebobs · 14 October 2010 at 9:40AM

a friend too have been a victim of this, didnt agree over the phone, said they wanted to see it first but when they sent there 'advert' it was nothing like what they led them to believe over the phone, they told them they had the company logo's etc after research i found out it was a scam, they phoned and e-mailed to cancel they said it was in breach of t + c's (which had never seen) and then an invioce turns up for over £100.

I've contatcted consumer direct on their behalf but it says they dont reply to individal requests, there just scared they'll get more threatening letters like others here received.... any advice?

fbtw · 15 October 2010 at 7:55PM

Hello, I'm new to these forums but am so thankful to have been able to read such useful comments on scammers. I am currently being hounded on the phone by Safety Planners Ltd and Kids Safe UK & Ireland, both of whom say I have agreed verbally to place adverts in awareness booklets. Neither company can supply me with transcripts of any conversations, and are verbally abusive on the phone. Safety Planners UK now has a debt recovery agency calling me threatening to come round and knock my door down.
I am finding all of this very distressing and have complained to my local trading s standards office, but not sure what to do next. I would be so grateful for any help anyone can give, thank you

trisontana · 15 October 2010 at 8:39PM

If the debt recovery agency do threaten to knock your door down then call the police. This is harassment and possibly blackmail.

fbtw · 15 October 2010 at 9:29PM

It's just reassuring to know there are folks out there with great advice and support, thank you so much!:)

SFriend · 16 October 2010 at 4:09PM

Last Thursday (13.10.2010) I was contacted by a Tom Harrison of Emergency Services Press and asked to advertise in a publication called "Road to Recovery". I was told that this publication was distributed free of charge to all Police, Fire and Ambulance personnel. This company had obtained my details from the UK Reiki Federation website as I am a Reiki Practitioner. Called Kent Police who advised that this is a scam and not to have anything to do with them as they publish their own magazines. Within five minutes of the phone call I had received an email invoice requesting payment. This I ignored and the following day received another email requesting payment. Am writing this so that other practitioners can be warned. Having done some digging on the internet it seems that these people have been doing this for years and getting away with it. Martin - perhaps on one of your many television/radio slots you could warn others?!

Beaumarisgirl · 26 October 2010 at 12:25PM

26th Oct 2010 - last week a guy called Martin Harrison telephoned my office twice, he made out to my assistant that he knew me and was quite abrupt each time he phoned. He has just phoned back today and explained that he works for the local police force and as a highly recommended accountant in the area my company had been selected to appear in a magazine out Feb 2011. He asked was I interested in having an advert in it? When I questioned where he got my name from he became quite flustered and said that he had found it on another website because I offer discount- something i do not offer?? At this time I became suspicious and typed in his details into Google and found various sights contianing his name and basically warning about him. I mentioned this to him and he instantly changed his tone of voice...needlesstosay I hung up on him....People beware!!

trisontana · 29 October 2010 at 11:33AM

Good news on this front:-

Two jailed - at last - for the rampant "charity" advertising scam

The article offers some good advice when you are contacted by these scammers.

miss_smile · 2 November 2010 at 9:59PM

Hi, all. (new to this).

We to have had dealings with BCS which started back in August 2010, [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] and did we want to advertise in a magazine for police/fireman etc.....

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] After reporting them to the police and trading standards, we wrote to them basically telling them that we weren't going to pay [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] and asked for a transcript of the telephone conversation. Giving them 14 days to reply. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] Since then we have received calls chasing payment. Today we have recieved a letter from CF&L debt recovery. The payment has now increased from £95.00 to £413.25. My husband spoke with them this evening and could hear the person in the back ground that he had original spoke to [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]. My husband told him that we were not paying and that we would see them in court. Is there any way of stopping these people ? I want to write back, but not sure if this is the right thing to do or should we just ignore. Also should we contact the police and trading standards again ? Any help would be very much appreciated.

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