SA businesses losing thousands to fake invoice scams – Archived News.

This article is from the Premier of South Australia’s website from October 2007. 2007 and they still haven’t done anything to stop it!?!

SA businesses losing thousands to fake invoice scams
23/10/2007

Another false billing scam has been doing the rounds in South Australia. Targeting local businesses, the scam artists send invoices for advertising placements in phoney publications, leaving the business community hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Since late last year, Consumer Affairs has received reports from businesses in regards to 30 different publications, where it has been alleged they have been the target or victim of ‘false billing’. Investigations have revealed the publications are produced by 25 separate companies and one individual.

The publishers are based in QLD and NSW, however a number of links between some of the publishers have been detected.

Business owners have expressed concern about invoices they have received for advertising space that they never authorised. Minister for Consumer Affairs, Jennifer Rankine, is urging businesses to be wary of advertising in a variety of publications that deal with community issues such as drugs, accident support, volunteering, policing and road safety. The publications are alleged to be distributed nationally.

Minister for Consumer Affairs, Jennifer Rankine, said, Individuals in the business community are a red hot target for these fraudsters and are consistently being harassed, and in some cases threatened, into paying for advertising material they have never actually ordered.

SA businesses have received invoices for advertisements anywhere between $200 and $500. The majority have This is a solicitation not an invoice for a debt incurred by you written on the invoice statement.

Consumer Affairs officers have been compiling dozens of witness statements from many business owners whose organisations feature in the bogus publications, which look surprisingly authentic.

It is disturbing that we are finding many different advertisements for all sorts of businesses on the same pages of the same publication. Consumer Affairs has obtained many copies of the publications that look identical, but contain different advertisements. This makes us very suspicious that these publications are printed specifically for individual businesses in a ploy to encourage payment, Ms Rankine said.

Common identifiers of false billing scams include:

• Selling advertising space for a publication that either does not exist or has limited circulation
• Making false claims that the publication is affiliated with a particular community group or well known organisation
• Invoicing businesses for advertisements that were never authorised
• Contacting businesses to confirm an advertisement has allegedly previously been placed when in fact this never occurred
• Contacting businesses and advising that the publication has been printed and is ready to be sent to them when in fact the business never agreed to place an advertisement in the publication

Three companies (two from QLD and one from NSW) have already been reported for various breaches of the Fair Trading Act, with charges yet to be laid.

Due to this problem extending across the nation, I have written to the Federal Treasurer, forwarding him a list of false ABN’s possibly being used by these suspects.

In the meantime, Ms Rankine is urging businesses to keep meticulous records of any advertising that is authorised. This should help protect any business from unscrupulous operators.

If every business was aware of the scam and refused to pay for unauthorised advertising, in time the scammers would realise the hopelessness of the situation, close their doors and go away.

The message is simple. If you did not authorise the advertisement do not pay the invoice.

If any business suspects they are being targeted by a false billing scam they should contact Consumer Affairs on 8204 9777. For further information about these and other scams visit www.ocba.sa.gov.au.

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