Almost 30 firms cheated by Euro directory scam

Nearly 30 Maltese businesses were duped into sending payments to European directory scam companies, according to a survey carried out by the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise - GRTU.

However, the GRTU could not confirm how much money these businesses lost in the scam because the questionnaire was limited in that respect, a spokesman said.

Parts of the survey findings were released during a press conference by MEP Simon Busuttil last week to announce the adoption of a report he presented to the European Parliament on European directory scams.

The scam preys on businesses through mailed forms in which entrepreneurs are asked to confirm or correct details about them, implying that an advert will appear in a European directory listing free of charge.

However, the fine print on the form says that by signing the form, the business is entering into a three-year advertising contract and accepts to be billed €900 annually. Victims unwilling to pay up are then threatened and harassed with legal action.

Contacted after the press conference, the GRTU spokesman confirmed that 27 companies (22 per cent of respondents) targeted said they had made at least one payment to directory companies while 70 businesses (56 per cent) said they were threatened by court action unless they paid up.

Additionally, 79 businesses confirmed they were invoiced by a European directory company and 75 businesses said they had previously been targeted through misleading advertising of the kind.

Dr Busuttil, whose report on fighting the scams was overwhelmingly adopted by the EP last Tuesday, estimated that 6.5 million misleading application forms were sent to businesses luring them to unwittingly sign up for a three-year advertising contract.

Dr Busuttil also pointed out that even if only 100,000 victims out of these 6.5 million were ensnared, directory companies could pocket as much as €100 million a year. It was estimated that about 1,343 Maltese businesses, NGOs and organisations were targeted by the scam operators.

He urged Maltese victims who were charged for the adverts not to pay any fees until they reported the matter to authorities and sought legal advice on how to proceed.

Dr Busuttil explained how his report was aimed at raising European awareness to prevent businesses from falling victim to scams based on misleading advertising, where they unintentionally sign up to a listing in a business directory costing them €900 a year.

"We want to convey the message to all businesses that if they are caught up in this sort of scam, they are not alone," Dr Busuttil said.