You’re probably here because you’re one of the thousands of people who have received a letter threatening court action from a company called Direct Publisher, for an advert. The advert will claim that you agreed to place an advert on a website called the Commercial Register.
Before we go any further, let’s be clear: no one has been taken to court due to the scam. The scammers are complete chancers so stop worrying.
I reported Direct Publisher SLU to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, who advised that they were aware of this company and not to pay the bill. A warning has also been issued to farmers. There are reports on Spanish websites of the same where Spanish companies have been duped into this scam (you can see comments in a translated page here). However, Action Fraud have failed to take action, and to the disappointment of many, you may be wasting your time.
How it all began
In June 2016 my company received a letter from a company calling itself the Commercial Register, purporting to be acting on behalf of Companies House. The letter advised us that we needed to complete our company details and return the form to the company in the pre-paid envelope. The form was accidentally completed by the admin team and returned. This would result in months of battles, emails and telephone calls to overseas scammers.
We received a bill for €993 for placing an advert on the website. The invoice came from Madrid and included a copy of the signed ‘order form’. The order was for listing our company in the ‘England Commercial Register’, but it transpired we had actually signed up for an advert on the very poor quality website com-reg.com. We had been hit by the (yet another) scam on small business
Direct Publisher SLU are scammers
Direct Publisher had hoodwinked my company into signing a contract for an advert, and the actions the company used to obtain the signature weren’t honest, weren’t upfront and hid the real terms and conditions in very small print on the reverse of the form. That’s an excellent example of fraud. In my opinion, these scammers are nothing more than bullies who attempt to apply pressure using various guises. They prey on small business owners and bully. They use poorly written letters and attempt to make themselves look official.
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Should I pay to be in the Commercial Register?
Quite simply, No! Don’t pay it. It’s a blatant scam and to date (after receiving hundreds of emails from people) no one has ever been taken to court. They will threatened and try to scare you into paying, but don’t be fooled. It’s nothing but hot air.
In June 2017, some victims of the scam began to receive letter and emails from people claiming to be legal representatives of Direct Publisher. The emails come from m.m@legal-recovery.com and threaten court action. There is no name of the law firm on the email, which immediately looks suspicious.
You would have thought that if Direct Publisher had such a firm legal case that they would have taken the matter to court months ago, especially as they have given so many victims a final demand on numerous occasions. Alas, no. It seems that their bark really is much worse than their bite.
Another thing suspicious issue with these emails is that the legal-recovery.com has no website and the domain is hidden for privacy on the WhoIs database. Why would a genuine legal firm want to hide their details from the public domain?
The company was clever with the original letter looking to be very official and from a UK Government department. So be careful what you sign, and definitely don’t pay them.
I have been contacted by various people by phone, email and via this blog about this company. Here’s what I’ve been told to date:
- the initial letter looks official and as if it was from Companies House
- most people can’t recall seeing any terms and conditions or mention of a payment
- some people have alleged that their signatures have been scanned and then printed on a different contact
What to do next if Direct Publisher threatens you:
What you do next is completely up to you but I recommend:
- don’t return the form
- don’t reply to their emails
- don’t get into a conversation with them – you’ll get wound up going backwards and forwards with their ‘brick wall’ style communication
- don’t pay them any money, regardless of their threats
- do report them to action fraud
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Where are Direct Publisher located?
Many people are receiving an email from the scammers saying that the website has been moved from com-reg.com to comm-reg.com. The registered person of the com-reg.com and comm-reg.com domains has now been revealed and listed on Whois as:
Don’t bother sending a letter back without a stamp
Royal Mail have confirmed that any letters meant for Europe without a stamp will be thrown away, so don’t bother returned the envelope without a stamp. You’re just wasting a good envelope!
Previous threat letters
I decided to write to this unscrupulous company and so sent them an email, saying that we would not be paying it and that we had reported them to Action Fraud. I received the following reply from Ella King <drp133-1@com-reg.com>:
“Dear Mr Hicks
We thank you for your e-mail of 31st May 2016.
We confirm that an advertisement order was placed by [our company name] when returning the original order form to us duly completed, signed and dated.
All the conditions of our commercial offer including a prominent price in bold were given to you at the outset and it can only be expected that you were fully aware of the contractual commitment being entered into.
Since your cancellation request was not sent to us within the contractual cooling off period of fifteen days from the date of signature this order has come into force. Your company’s advertising can be viewed on our website at: www.com-reg.com.
We kindly ask you to honour existing contractual commitments and settle the invoice at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely
Customer Support Dept.
www.com-reg.com”
Of course, I still had to intention to pay, so replied and said: “as previously advised we will not be making any payment and leave you to take any action you feel necessary”. A couple of days later, I received another email:
“Dear Mr Hicks
In reply to your e-mail of 6th June 2016 we must reaffirm that full consent was given to the business terms for the publication of your professional data on our website upon returning the signed order document.
Absolute Asbetsos Solutions Ltd.’s order has become valid and legally binding since no withdrawal was effected within the contractual cooling off period defined in Point one of order terms and conditions.
We look forward to receiving your payment.
Yours sincerely
Customer Support Dept.
www.com-reg.com”
So I wrote back, and said the following:
“I’ve already made it clear that we will not be paying it. I also left you to take whatever action you feel necessary.
No further correspondence will be entered into.”
Update – 21/06/2016
Today we received a “PAYMENT NOTICE” from Commercial Register scam HQ. I’ve ignored it.
Update – 27/07/2016
Ella King from Direct Publisher S.L.U. has accused this blog of containing “subjective material with no legal foundation or filtering or verification of the veracity of claims made” and that Direct Publisher SLU is a “fully registered business and the order document in question meets all legal criteria” (see comments below).
In response to this I would say that Direct Publisher SLU know exactly what they’re doing and they don’t like being called out on it. Action Fraud have themselves told me (and others) that Direct Publisher SLU is acting fraudulently. That’s fact, not subjection. As for “legal foundation” – if you scan someone’s signature and add it to another form that’s illegal. It is a fact that some of the people who have contacted me (see below) have alleged this has occurred.
Direct Publisher SLU may be a “fully registered company”, but not in the UK. They hide this fact on the original letter in small print and give the overarching impression that they are acting on behalf of Companies House in their initial letter. That’s not illegal, but it’s immoral and if nothing else its hoodwinking.
Update – 16/08/2016
Received a “THIRD REMINDER” regarding the Commercial Register Scam today dated 12.08.2016. I’ve ignored it. This was received after my email to them on 28/07/2016 which read:
“Ella,
Time for you to take this to court. We’re not paying.
I look forward to hearing from your solicitors in due course.
Kind Regards,
Ritchie.”
Update 14/09/2016
I received a letter from Direct Publisher SLU and their ‘Legal Department/Departement Juridique’. The letter is another demand for the invoice to be settled as says that “to date you situation has not been regularized” and that they “demand that the outstanding amount is paid upon reception of this notice.cf1”. I’ve ignore it.
Update – 25/09/2016
A person who has been a regular contributor to this article, Nina Woolcock, has spoken to a solicitor. Whilst I am not a solicitor and unable to offer any legal advice, she has this to say:
“I spoke this week with a solicitor specialising in commercial law/disputes. He said he had only that very morning had a client in with exactly the same issue with Direct Publisher as all of us. He also said, having looked at the evidence, that it is a scam, do not pay anything, do not enter into any communication with them. He interestingly also said there was another scam, virtually identical, about 6 years ago.”
Update 10/10/2016
Traffic to this blog has become exponential compared to a few months ago. I am probably being contacted by 5 people a day on average either reporting that they have been duped by the Commercial Register scam or that they have received a letter. It seems that this is a reincarnation of various other scams, including a European City Guide scam which even has the same greyed out terms and conditions on the reverse of the letter as the current fraud
Update 11/10/2016
I have received yet another threatening letter from Commercial Register, which I’ve filed along with all the others. I’ve also reported them to Royal Mail.
Please share this website on social media and spread the word about this dreadful company, and if possible link to the article from your own website. The more people that spread the word, the less people that will be conned!
The Latest Update
As of 27/06/2017 I have never received any court letter. I’ve never been taken to court, seen a bailiff or anything else that this company threatened to do 8 months ago. This all goes to confirm that this is a scam set up by people who have absolutely no intention of actually commencing legal proceedings because they know they’ll never win a case.
Thank you
I have been contacted by hundreds (if not thousands) of people who have been touched by this scam and my blog is currently receiving almost 75,000 page views a month. I’m always pleased to hear from people in the comments section but am unable to reply to individual emails or queries (I’m not a solicitor and can offer no legal advice, so please don’t ask).
If you’ve been helped by this blog or saved money, please consider making a small donation to help towards it’s upkeep.
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Businessman, camping enthusiast, Formula One fan and Real Ale drinker.
Hi, I too have had a letter from the ‘Commercial Register’ company in Spain demanding payment of £993 plus VAT. This is in response to filling out a form, which like the other company did as we thought it was from Companies House. It states we are on the ‘register of companies’ and this form is to ensure all details are correct and that we do not get removed from said register.
I have now received an email demanding payment. I am intrigued to know how the other company (on your website) got on with not paying…. I am thinking of seeking legal advice.
Please can anyone help?
It’s a scam and I’ve been told the same by the police.
I wrote to them and said the same and that I wasn’t going to pay it. They wrote back and said I have to. I said I wouldn’t be. They then replied and said I need to pay it. I told them to take whatever action they want and that I wouldn’t be entering into any further correspondance. Watch this space!
My name is
Paul I also received this and 100% will not be paying these people are penny . Do the same
I also am in the 2 year mark with all the demanding letters like everyone else. I am in Canada and initially thought it was a Canadian Government Form (as I am sure that was their intent) and filled it out and sent back (stupidly without looking at reply address). Lesson Learned!! When the first payment required letter came I also emailed ‘Ella King’ explaining my mislead understanding of this and was replied with that all was Legal and I was required to pay. I replied back that I would not pay and that was the first and last time I communicated with them. I am glad to have this forum to see that is so many in the same situation which eases my anxiety over the threatening letters I am bombarded with. Thank you
How is everyone
Hi had the same problem but not paying them any penny.
I too have had this happen and informed them today I would not be paying.
They scan your signature and put it on a new order form.
It would appear they are starting to get a little more well known…
We have had the same happen to us and now the company is demanding money. The form we originally filled out did not have any legal or contractual agreement on it, then the copy we had sent back to us did. It looks like this block of text has been added after we have filled the form out and signed it, there are faint lines where it looks like a printed paragraph of text has been photocopied onto the existing form. We have reported to Action Fraud and contacted SLU to inform them of this.
Your story is the same as everyone else who has contacted me, Paul.
Paul – I THOUGHT THIS!!!! The original did NOT have that and I am 100% CERTAIN it said Company House – I thought it was just us updating our details for the register.
I had the form recently – the first page says something like “Companies Register”. No crest or anything but it looks genuine and has information pulled directly from companies house.
I stupidly filled out this form. I then found this blog so I repot it to Action Fraud. I have just received a third reminder from them. I WILL NOT BE PAYING!!
Thank you for posting this article….I also receive this form asking for my business information. Very official looking and a deadline for compliance….4 weeks ago I was about to drop it off in the mail when I stopped myself and said why don’t you read the form a bit more since they were asking for information that the corporate registry should already have. So today I thought I will google to see what this is all about since there was no phone number on the form which is very unusual for any government correspondence. And to my dismay I found your article. You saved me from this SCAM…..THANK YOU!!!! I am going to report this to the government since there should be some public service information from the government with regards to this. I dodge a big one and to think that I always saw myself and savvy and on top of things it’s frighten to think how so close I came to a different outcome had I not taken the time to use google and found your post.
I am relieved to see your comments! It’s interesting what you say Paul – I too have no recollection of terms and conditions and could see by the email attachment that it appears to be added on at a later date – I thought exactly the same as you! There must be more people out there like us who have been trapped into this scam.
The emails I have had from Ella King are exactly the same as you’ve had Ritchie – word for word.
I have reported it to action fraud who said ‘this sounds familiar’.
Can we please stay in touch with what happens next…
Of course! I’ll keep updating this page frequently.
Actually, I got another email from the wonderful Ella this morning telling me I have to pay as it was a contractual agreement. I replied “go away”… 🙂
Happy to have my day in Court against these shisters.
If it’s true that they are forging documents (which has been alleged by quite a few people now) I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
Has anyone heard any more?
Not since my last update.
Here is a warning to Welsh Farmers regarding the same scam
https://www.fginsight.com/news/farmers-warned-over-scam-letter-13340
Thank you. Useful information.
I have now had another letter – ‘second reminder’ saying I must pay within the next 8 days (or what?) ….. Had that last Wednesday. No more e mails from the lovely Ella as yet.
I have ignored it. I sought some free legal advice, they said to ignore any communication.
I check this blog daily – if anyone can add anything I’d be interested to see!
How do these people sleep at night?
I had another email a couple of days ago – same rhetoric as usual – I just replied with “Not happening”. Not heard back.
Hi there,
I too have had the same situation with the lovely Ella King and have written at least five emails telling them that I wouldn’t be paying it, I would vehemently defend any legal actions and to take us down from their “Register” immediately. Like you, I saw the Companies House bit but did not see anything about the terms and conditions etc. To me, it looked like a renewal to a free subscription. How stupid I feel now. Ella King has written me many emails – I threatened her with action last week and received this email this morning:-
“We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail of 20th June 2016 and respectfully refer you to the signed order document on which business terms are presented without exception and the comprehensive responses supplied in our five previous e-mails.
We advise that our company Direct Publisher SLU is a fully registered business and the order document in question meets all legal criteria. Please note that as the order form was sent to your company as a Business to Business order and not to you as an individual or consumer Consumer law is not relevant or applicable in this case.
Since our discretionary offer has expired and your company has failed to respond positively the original order terms have been reinstated and the full invoiced amount is due.
Yours sincerely
Customer Support Dept.
http://www.com-reg.com”
I have no intention of paying this and, I must admit, was so relieved to see this thread that it isn’t just me who is going mad!!!!
I will stay in touch with this page.
Thanks
Michelle
Our story is the same as everybody else who has posted on here. Has anybody heard anything off these people in the last few days
The last email I received was on 1st June 2016 and I ignore it. It read:
I haven’t heard anything since my ‘second reminder’ letter which was a couple of weeks ago but communication seems to be roughly fortnightly so I’m thinking I’m due to hear very soon regarding their next demand!
I will update here as soon as I hear anything.
Hi guys
Really glad all you guys took the time to post these comments, it has helped me so much as I was very stressed about paying so much money for something I didn’t want. I offered a payment plan and they turned me down but did offer a reduction to 350 euro! They will now be getting nothing from me.
Much appreciated guys.
Warren
New email from Ella King!!!
Dear Mr Taylor
We acknowledge receipt of your e-mails sent yesterday, 25th July 2016 and wish to advise against relying on an online blog which contains subjective material with no legal foundation or filtering or verification of the veracity of claims made. Our company Direct Publisher SLU is a fully registered business and the order document in question meets all legal criteria.
We also remind you that an exceptional offer was made at our company’s discretion to conclude this matter and we are disappointed that this has not been favorably received.
Yours sincerely
Customer Support Dept.
http://www.com-reg.com
Quote: “subjective material with no legal foundation or filtering or verification of the veracity of claims made”.
King and SLU know exactly what they’re doing and they don’t like being called out on it. Action Fraud have themselves told me (and others) that Direct Publisher SLU is acting fraudulently. That’s fact, not subjection.
As for “legal foundation” – if you scan someone’s signature and add it to another form that’s illegal. Fact.
Direct Publisher SLU may be a “fully registered company” but not in the UK. They hide this fact on the original letter in small-print. That’s not illegal, but it’s definitely immoral!
Dear Ritchie Hicks,
Thank you for creating this blog. Puts my mind at rest after falling victim just as many else have. I am yet to pay a penny.
Jake Kemp
I got another payment notice this morning. Sent the following reply to Ella King:
“I’ve just received another payment request from you. Why are you still sending these letter of harassment?
I have made it very clear that we will not be paying your invoice. I have also made it clear to you that I have been advised by Action Fraud not to pay it.
I advised you some time ago that if you feel you have a legal case, you take legal action. You haven’t. Why not?
I also note that you have never actually advertised our company on your website. I’ve checked various times. Even if your “contract” did have any legal standing you’ve failed to adhere to your own commitments and are therefore in breach of it.
Please stop sending us silly invoices.”
hi thank god it is not just me!! deffo did not sign up for advert in spain? costing 993euros per year.
Have received third reminder demanding money before legal action , we are refusing to pay. Emailed Ella King and received same reply as above.
I would urge you to report this to Action Fraud – call 0300 123 2040. The more people that do, the better.
Hello Friends!
I have today received the ‘third reminder’ letter stating if I do not pay within a week they will be ‘forced to forward my file to their legal department’.
I have not paid anything and have reported them to action fraud.
Thanks Ritchie for starting this blog, I feel so relieved to see everyones elses comments. Please keep updating everyone!
We too have had a Third Reminder dated 25/07/2016
So Direct Publisher S.L.U. who are obviously monitoring this blog
And as you do not respond to any emails I have sent and you are rude on the phone.
I will make your scam public to help others.
The date I did not order any services from you alleged in your documents is 15/04/2016
Your reference number is 702622 on your false invoice.
We did not order anything from your company, you do not have one of our official purchase order numbers, you do not have permission to list my company details on your website, and you are breaching copyright by using our logo on your website.
You are now costing our company money by continually sending scam letters and illegally demanding money constantly so costs against you are mounting now every time you make a false claim against us for administration.
You don’t even have a correct signature on your false documents that were never sent to you.
Your invoices are officially in dispute as we have told you previously.
We have never had or received any documents from the commercial register or the Spanish company who run this fraudulent website. The first we knew about it was an invoice that we queried and disputed. Then you sent some fictitious order form to us with an un-known signature telling us we ordered it and we are outside of the cancellation period.
We did not order anything, even if we did you did not give a 14 day cancelation period, you are deliberately making yourself look like the UK Companies House, it is such a shame for Anglo – Spanish relations that you are doing this and the British and Spanish Authorities should deal with this immediately before any real damage is done.
If this was happening in the UK then the ASA would have shut this company down by now. What is the Spanish equivalent? Or even the ASA in the UK can do something as they are advertising in to our country?
Just to add some keywords to this blog to help others find it
Ella King scam, drp133-1@com-reg.com scam, Commercial Register Scam, Direct Publisher SLU Scam, info@com-reg.com scam, Tel: 0034 917 728 032 scam, Fax : 0034 912 727 288 scam, Spanish company scam, NIF ES B-87371464 Scam tax number.
Public record entries in Spain.
This tax number is registered to, MANCHO PALACIOS FERNANDO owner of DIRECT PUBLISHER SL
Other companies owned by Mancho are Cantame SL, PORTAL EMPRESARIAL SL and maybe part of the scam ?
Are GARCIA TRIGUEROS DAVID and MUÑOZ CANO RAFAEL are named on the Cantame SL as well and part of the scam ?
Are LOPEZ PELAEZ TORRES FRANCISCO and NAVARRO MIRALLES PEDRO, named on PORTAL EMPRESARIAL SL part of the scam ?
So maybe the above named partners who are in business with MANCHO PALACIOS FERNANDO would like to know what he is up-to and how he is scamming companies in the UK or even around the EU.
Public information source
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/directivo/mancho-palacios-fernando
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/empresa/direct-publisher-sl
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/empresa/portal-empresarial-sl
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/directivo/lopez–pelaez-torres-francisco
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/directivo/navarro-miralles-pedro
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/empresa/cantame-sl
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/directivo/munoz-cano-rafael
https://www.infoempresa.com/es-es/es/directivo/garcia-trigueros-david
This information has been emailed to info@com-reg.com
I would also suggest doing the following if they have taken your logo and any information from your website and used it you can report them for copyright infringement.
https://supportcenter.godaddy.com/Infringement/Index?isc=
Use the above link and fill in the form it takes 5 mins.
You should also know this that their website is also going to have a detrimental effect on your Google ranking. I am also a website designer and Google SEO marketer and what they are doing with the links on their site that go back to your website are against Google’s search engine rules.
You are not allowed to have “paid for links” to help improve your search engine ranking. These links should be tagged as what is known in the trade as “no follow”.
More info here https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en
So you can report them to Google here for selling links
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/paidlinks?pli=1
Only fill out the website selling links part with http://www.com-reg.com and add in the additional details the following.
“This site is unsafe as it tries to sell directory entries by sending letters out in the post that look like your own countries company registration authority and trick you into taking a paid advert out that you do not want, then they do not use the no-follow on their links that they have sold.”
You will also need to disavow the link to stop it damaging your Google reputation, this is a bit more complicated and you will need to have a Google Webmaster Tools account for your site, instructions here.
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487?hl=en
And also file complaints here
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud
https://www.econsumer.gov/#crnt
Good Luck all, let me know if you need any help with the above stuff.
Thanks for your comprehensive response, which went to spam for some reason (probably because of the links).
Thank you for this thread! It has put my mind at rest!
We have just received a letter this morning:
‘We notice that your invoice dated 02/05/2016 remains unsettled to date, despite several reminders sent to you.
Your overdue settlement incurs payment of commensurate costs and unless full payment is made within a week, we will be forced to forward your file to our legal department.’
Should I just be ignoring this letter? Has anyone had any further information/action taken yet?
Some have had this letter. No one yet has reported it going to court. I suspect there will be a letter from a collection agency next. We are waiting for that to see what claims this company make.
I have invited Direct Publisher to pass our invoice to their solicitors (yesterday).
I would urge you to report this to Action Fraud – the phone number is above.
Danielle – I received the same letter as you earlier this week. I have ignored it.
I do wonder what they will do regarding legal action. I intend to fight them tooth and nail over this. Surely all of us telling our stories on this blog is evidence enough that we have all been caught out under a false, immoral and misleading form filling exercise.
If I get a burly man at the door demanding to take all my worldly goods I’ll let you know!
TERESA MYLES I have had the same thing, but I tried to go on the web first to see the website, it said page could not be displayed, I tried 4 times.
So sent the letter off, with no extra bits. as it says on first letter.. please amend and confirm your changes on page 2 and return the form to us as soon as possible. its also says filing deadline 6.7.2016
Then I got the invoice. I rang the number to talk to someone to say I didn’t want anything else and what is this website I don’t know about.. Still getting invoices… SO I COULD NOT GO ON THE WEB AND NO ONE WOULD TALK TO ME ABOUT IT.
All I did was confirm as a basic data entry which was on the letter.
could not see website, so could not see what was what, so letter got sent.
Why did they have my info on their Website anyway. I never knew about it, and that’s not right.
and as I said before, I phoned them, and a man said He don’t do the web, then hung up.
Ive had my third reminder today, threatening to pass me onto their legal team if payment not recieved in one week! I wont be paying!
I have had the same situation and Ella sent me this on the 21st July…
Dear Ms McCarthy
In reply to your e-mail of 19th July 2016 we must reaffirm that full consent was given to the business terms for the publication of your professional data on our website upon returning the validated order document.
In response to your comments we respectfully advise that order terms have in no way been imposed. In accordance with legal requirements all business terms including information regarding cost and cancellation were supplied and there was no obligation to contract our services. It was your company’s professional responsibility to read these carefully and inform yourself before electing to proceed.
The ‘Order’ section states that a signature or company stamp should be affixed to confirm the order and the latter was supplied.
Northridge Cars Ltd.’s order has become valid and binding since no withdrawal was effected within the contractual cooling off period defined in Point one of order terms and conditions.
That being said, to arrive at an amicable closure, our administrator is willing to grant you an anticipated cancellation of the three year contract returned upon settlement of 350€ before 3rd August 2016 including handling costs and following work.
Respecting the settlement date is imperative, or our offer will elapse and the initial contractual conditions will come back into force.
We trust you will value our commercial offer and look forward to receiving your payment
Yours sincerely
Customer Support Dept.
Obviously I will not be paying and have told her that I have reported her. I am yet to hear anything back.
Thanks for setting this up. I too have been victim of this and am on my second reminder. I’ve reported them to Action Fraud.
Its good to know that its not just me that has got court out by this.
Thanks for setting this up, i have received a third reminder ‘We notice that your invoice dated 09/05/2016 remains unsettled to date, despite several reminders sent to you.
Your overdue settlement incurs payment of commensurate costs and unless full payment is made within a week, we will be forced to forward your file to our legal department.’
I’m not paying
We too have fallen victim to this scam. It seems all companies are receiving the same responses from the same person.
We don’t recall seeing anything in regards to a cost for completing a form or any terms and conditions that suddenly appeared along with the invoice as stated by Ella King!
‘We emphasize the fact that your decision to order your professional advertising on our B2B portal was made in an informed manner with all the information (cost, cancellation procedure etc.) supplied at the outset. We do not therefore see how Action Fraud could be concerned with this matter and what assistance they might bring.’
Has anyone actually had any correspondence from anyone other than Ella King?
It seems not!
Hi,
Mine is Carmen Torres
dpr134-1@com-reg.com
i have had messages from this person aswell
I also have a 3rd reminder – have told them already I’ve reported this to Action Fraud – all the correspondence received above I also have. No way are they getting a penny out of me for this, they can send Don Juan round to collect it if they want but he’ll be shown the same 2 fingers.
Ha ha love this comment 🙂
Got another letter, saying they will take legal measures.
In the very first letter it say’s England Commercial Register, in order to avoid the removal of your company details, please revise and approve your information promptly. why did they have our info on their web site any way. I never put it there. How is everyone….
Hi Richie
I appear to have also been hoodwinked into this! Very angry with myself.
I’ve notified Action Fraud UK, and have, using the information you provided here (thanks) sent a strong email to the Publishers.
Had one email reply from “Ella” and she has been informed that I’m not paying and that Action Fraud Uk have been notified.
Will keep you posted if anything of note arises.
today i have received a letter to tell me i have been passed onto their legal team!!
Has anyone actually received a “legal department” letter?
I had a phone call from Laura Rodriguez only the other week – and I told her that ‘this is a scam and we had reported this to Action Fraud’ and slammed the phone down. Now we have had yet another letter (dated Madrid 01.10.2018 headed Legal Department reference LAST NOTICE. “The Publisher wants you to settle the full amount of 2,979.00 Euros/2,655GBP within 15 days of date of this reminder to avoid legal proceedings. This would then terminate the order with immediate effect, payment being regarded as full and final settlement.” Again we will ignore this letter along with all the others and any further telephone calls . We have had letters going back 2 years now – it suddenly stopped for about a year now it has started up again. It can be really frightening – if I hadn’t seen the video and read all the comments – now it is just IRRITATING !!!
Hi all,
I have now received a letter from the Commercial Registers ‘legal department’ saying:
“The contract you have validated with Direct Publisher SLU has been forwarded to our department.
To date your situation has not been regularised and in the case of non-payment on your behalf, we will have the obligations to take the necessary legal measures and you will be liable for the costs that this procedure will incur.
We demand that the outstanding amount is paid upon receipt of this notice.”
We have all reported these cretins to Action Fraud but to my knowledge they have not done anything to help us. They are not going to go away, what are we going to do? Any suggestions?????
Well Nina, you’re at the stage most haven’t yet get to. I’m not a solicitor, so I can’t advise you on what to do.
Personally, I’m going to let it get to the Court stage and see if/what is sent. Some research suggests that they will send you officially looking court paperwork but it won’t actually be stamped. But I can’t advice further as this company and issue are fairly new. So it’s really up to you to decide what to do. Personally, I’m going all the way with this.
There is a lot of advice on this forum which you might like to read. You might also like to post a question. I’d be interested to see the response.
Hi, I received the legal letter back in May and wrote back informing them that I would not be making payment under any circumstances as I was aware it was a scam. I haven’t heard anything since then. Hopefully they are getting the message!!
Hi, I’ve also just got my third reminder. Will wait to see what happens next and report back.
Ive gone one better, ive received my third reminder, and two letters after that.
The last one, states “i have 8 days to pay”
Oh well, will give you all a shout in 9 days.
Scamsters!
Please let us know, George.
Will do Ritchie.
Morning everyone, i have received another letter today from commercial register. Well, its actually a letter stating that i never paid last years invoice, and also attached, an invoice for this years “so called publication”
And guess what, if i pay quickly, i could receive a 5% discount .
I`ve been tricked into this… just received last letter from their legal department.
I will be contacting auction fraud again ,as the first time when i done it , they knew nothing about it.
Have any of you have report reference number ? it would help if we would call them with same ref number.
Please email me on paulius.gele [at] gmail.com
Now had another demand saying FINAL 8 days to pay and if I don’t then will see me in court – for which I’m liable for all expenses. I e mailed action fraud for an update but never heard back (all of two weeks ago). I will call them and ask what they are doing.
Has anyone any other information?
Hi all. I have been following all these comments and have too been sucked in by this. I reported this to the Action Fraud team who advise not to pay a penny. I have today received a letter from the Departement Juridique advising we have to settle this within 8 days or they will be forced to forward our case to an international debt recovery agency. Looking forward to the next instalment from them!
Accoring to Google, ‘Departement Juridique’ is Frech for ‘Legal Department’.
Hello all. I spoke this week with a solicitor specialising in commercial law/disputes.
He said he had only that very morning had a client in with exactly the same issue with Direct Publisher as all of us. He also said, having looked at the evidence, that it is a scam, do not pay anything, do not enter into any communication with them. He interestingly also said there was another scam, virtually identical, about 6 years ago.
I have been unable to get through to Action Fraud, no option to even hold on the line, just told to call back later.
Hi Nina,
That’s really interesting. Although he has confirmed this is a scam, has he given any indication as to whether or not it is legally binding?
My research suggests that the next action by Direct Publisher will send a “court” letter, which looks official, but which will not have the official stamp of an issuing court.
Thanks,
Ritchie.
i also signed for something back in June but i am 99% sure when i signed there was no costs involved which i queried with them and they then send a scanned copy back to me with prices on. I am now my last reminder saying that i have 8 days before court proceedings. I did already email them when i got the first one saying i wasn’t going to pay it but they have still carried on. Should i contact someone to check this out?
You are in the same position as many. Unfortunately no one here has the legal expertise to advise you further so you may wish to take advice. I know I won’t be paying them, but I’m afraid you will have to seek you own legal advice.
hi just had a letter, going to ring action fraud next thank you for posting the scam on line. will wait for next letter. letter from
Madrid
I received a similar letter (this time the return envelope had a French address on it) today.
It was pretty clearly a scam and so, to get my own back, as the self-addressed envelope was pre-paid, I have posted the envelope with a charming note inside explaining what a bunch of perfectly ghastly parasites they are.
I’ve just received one this morning 08 October 16 … never heard of them until now, so I thought id check them out as it looked well dodgy. just as I thought but didn’t realise that they were trying to sting people for that amount . So glad I checked them out ,even though they would never get any monies .
Actually I love the Chef Editors name …. 732/173cx must be some type of code name .
On my letter , there’s no contact address , telephone number or persons name just a fax and e-mail address . Oh surprise , surprise , to say i’ve never heard of them , I have a registration number on my letter too .
Nothing to come from me …England Commercial Register …… stick it where the sun don’t shine as they say …
I’ve just been contacted by them for the first time. Being a sole trader I smelt a rat straightaway. I decided to Google “English Commercial Register Scam” and ended up here.
Very sorry to here that so many people have had such a horrid hassle with all this.
I have the paperwork that many of you returned. If you would like copies of it I can send them.
Thank you, Chris. Are you able to send me a copy of the original letter to ritchiejhicks@gmail.com please?
Do you have a copy of this original letter as I have been done too!! Thanks
I too got one of these letter s in the post this morning , I too am a sole trader not a ltd company .
and googled them to bring me here reading all the people who they have tried to scam .
sent back the empty envelope nothing inside .
Hi
I would be grateful if you could email me a copy of the original paperwork that was sent out for my records.
I am another who believed I was just updating some records
many thanks
Could you please send me a copy as well. My e-mail is Cris.spicer@ yahoo.com
Hi Chris, a copy of the original form we signed would be very helpful as I know there was no mention of any cost for this, it looks like my signature has been photocopied onto another sheet, I can see a line in the copying. Can you email me the original form please? thanks very much.
I hope i’m not too late to ask but could you please send me a copy to as we have been dealing with for quite a while. I didn’t keep copies of the original letter and it would be great to have to show my solicitor who has been corresponding with these on my behalf. email susanharris06@aol.com. Thank you very much.
Just got this in the post today, very much the same but a different header “England Commercial Register” with the flag and “Publication of Companies”.
Seemed suspect and read the terms of the 933EUR + VAT charge and seemed certainly suspect to me.
After reading your blog was assured what I thought was true.
It’s doing the rounds again with a new header so be careful guys.
I got the letter with an English flag on it with a pre-paid envelope to some po box in France. Its obviously a scam.
We’ve received a letter this morning from Direct Publisher S.L.U. based in Madrid. This time, however, they are going under ‘England Commercial Register’ from http://www.com-reg.com. Other than the difference in name, it is identical.
I read it closely and clearly a scam. We’re in publishing, and the nature of this kind of practice is not routine. Firstly, no publisher we know tie in their advertisers to a three-year contract – especially when it’s a small ad with no proven justification of audience.
It’s funny – although our business has been registered with Companies House for several years, it was only recently I applied to name our company on Royal Mail’s Postcode Address Finder (PAF), and within a few weeks we receive a letter. Is this just coincidence?
Just as well I put in a search and you guys popped up, but either way, the letter will be ignored.
Thanks for getting in touch. Direct Publisher appear to only target SME’s and Sole Traders. They don’t go for the “big boys” (presumably because they work on an SME having a lack of legal understanding in these matters) and they don’t target private individuals. It definitely seams to be a scam directed as smaller businesses.
Received letters today for my 2 companies. Straight in the shredder!! Shame there wasn’t a phone number to ring.
Thanks for your post. I have received a letter, asking to sign and return the attached form. Found this website when I tried to search England Commercial Register. Thanks you saved my time and money.
That was the aim 😉
Thank you for this blog.
Had a similar letter this morning, thought I would google it although to be honest it looked like a scam from the start.
Its disgusting that some low life spanish scammers try this trick, irrespective of what they say do not respond to it – just bin it and any future crap they send. Do not get into negotiations with them, if you do they will think they actually have a leg to stand on in court (which they dont).
Have just received this letter and fortunately recognised immediately that it seemed dodgy. Lack of capitalisation of the header, general poor grammar, the fact that it states “Best regards, Chef editor 732/173CX” and the fact that the prepaid returns envelope is for an address in France. Uh huh. Sure. Decided to do a quick Google and came across this!
Good luck to those having to deal with these fraudulent morons.
I too received a letter from England commercial register on the 8/10/16, thought it sounded off…thank god i read all these comments, they can remove me all they like!!!!
I have a small limited company, they aren’t getting a bean! The address on the envelope is France, and the chef editor on mine is also called 732/173CX (lovely name). Thank you everyone for commenting on these low lives, but I feel for all of you having to deal with their crap.
Received this letter in the post today and quickly recognised it as spam. Initial alarm bells were the inaccurate registered business name and the Spanish office address in the footer.
You previously mentioned that someone had advised this was similar to a previous scam, I think they’re probably referring to the old Expo Guide Scam – https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=expo-guide%20scam
There’s a thorough breakdown of the old Expo Guide scam here – http://www.energygrid.com/watchdog/2008/11-expoguide.html
Kudos for posting this warning Ritchie, you’ll save numerous people a fair amount of worry – you’re already ranking top for searches of their company name 😉
You deserve the additional traffic this will bring 🙂
Thank you, Richard. I am beginning to receive a steady flow of people who have be saved from the scam by seeing the blog. Hopefully more will also be prevented by falling fowl of it.
This is a reincarnation of the European City Guide scam which dates back about 15 years. I would just ignore everything they send you and they will eventually give up chasing.
A few years ago I did sign the paperwork as I believed it was from companies House, I closed this business down and started a new business, they have changed my paperwork to say my new trading name and I have just has a reminder for nearly £3k. I have definitely not signed anything under my current trading name! They are now threatening legal action.
Further to my email yesterday, I informed Action Fraud but also got it touch with Royal Mail.
I sent them photos of the letter, the French return envelope and, more importantly, the envelope that it was all delivered as this is what they need to make their enquiries. Here is the reply from them this morning.
“Thank you very much for the information you have provided. Please be assured that we are constantly trying to prevent this type of mail from entering the postal system. The example you sent is just what we need to make enquiries. If any mail of this type is received in future, I would be grateful if this could be forwarded to us, along with the envelope it was delivered in and endorsed with the date it was received.
Please email or forward this to the Freepost address below quoting the reference number SR4578.
FREEPOST SCAM MAIL
Unless we require any further information from you, we will not contact you again, but rest assured any further samples of this type of mail received from you in future will be scrutinised and used to assist us in our enquiries.
Yours sincerely
Scam Mail Helpdesk
Email: scam.mail@royalmail.com”
I must say, ‘LL’ from Royal Mail was exceptional yesterday, but I also want to extend my gratitude to you Ritchie for saving the hard-working community of small business owners from financial losses, anguish and frustration. We have enough to work through on a daily basis without dealing with imbeciles like this soliciting their malicious objectives on us as well.
Ultimately, I hope to see any director or company owner using immoral and unethical practice to deceive, to then take advantage of the legal system to their own gain, are bought to justice.
Thank you for your kind words, DC.
I was unaware of this method of reporting to Royal Mail and will be reporting them myself today.
I received this letter a couple of weeks ago and was going to hand it to my partner. But before doing that had a look at the text on the signature part which revealed their intention. I am going to send it to Royal Mail scam.mail@royalmail.com along with the reply envelope. Hopefully they can end this non-sense.
I received a polite letter saying that I needed to register,which I have declined! Thank you for sharing your experiences and thank you to Google!
I’m on my 3rd demand now threatened with an international debt recovery agency. They can chuff off!
By the way, if you do a search on http://www.com-reg.com you immediately get to https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/com-reg.com which puts it very high risk, the site has only had 272 views in 18mths and is rerouted through several countries ending up in the B Virgin islands – why?! Also noticed the Netherlands address also comes up coincidentally where all the other scam directories are based too. 100% this is a scam, i can’t even be bothered to reply to them any more, handed over to UK Fraud office so let them keep dealing with it. My friends Brother in law actually works there, will have a word with her and see if I can find any insider info!
Thanks for your post. I have received a letter, asking to sign and return the attached form. I thought it wasn’t right as thw retuen address was in France. Found this website when I tried to search England Commercial Register. I’m sending to Royal Mail scam department
This blog is great, we are a small scaffold company and we have had this going on from May to now and have just received a letter saying they are now taking legal action for which we are liable to pay all costs! I contacted a Litigation solicitor who advised this is a scam and DO NOT pay and contact action fraud on 0300 1232040. They have given me a crime ref number and advised to keep all documents for police if need be. I can finally feel at ease as thought this was all my fault for not reading something properly and putting our business at financial loss.
Thanks. It seems a lot of people have received this threat of debt collecting this week.
Hi, just had one of these letters but it seems they are now playing fair. It does clearly state that they are a private company not affiliated with any government body and that there is a charge of €993 plus VAT a year for 3 years. I guessed they were dodgy when it came but many thanks for your website. Keep ignoring those bills.
Congratulations on this blog, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one. I’m at almost exactly the same stage as Ritchie, just had the letter threatening an international debt recovery agency. I have reported it on Action fraud website but I think I’ll give them a ring tomorrow.
Great thread, we’ve received the same letter this morning and binned it, precious time and money saved, well done to all who have contributed.
Just finished an online chat with ActionFraud, pretty useless really, I was hoping for some feedback that they are at least aware of this but got nothing at all, just told me to file a report on their website. Chat transcript below. Has anyone got past the stage of being threatened with an international debt collection agency?
10:41:26 System System: Connected with Amber
10:41:30 Agent Amber: Hello Richard Steele, you are chatting with Amber, thanks for contacting us, how can I assist you? (Please do not reveal personal data during this web chat)
10:42:15 Customer Richard Steele: Hello, I’m after some advice on something called the Commercial register, they operate from Spain, I believe it’s been reported before
10:43:21 Customer Richard Steele: they target businesses, send out letters, seemingly for free registration then send out invoices for 993euros per year
10:44:26 Agent Amber: Can you explain briefly what has happened?
10:45:33 Customer Richard Steele: I received a letter in April, which I thought was just to confirm a free registration on their website, asked to fill in a form and send it back. Foolishly I did.
10:46:19 Customer Richard Steele: 3 weeks later I got an invoice for 993 euro, when I emailed to cancel, they said it was too late, had to be cancelled within 14 days.
10:47:06 Customer Richard Steele: since then I have received several letters, the latest one threatening an international debt collection agency
10:47:51 Customer Richard Steele: there are many other people in the same boat, I’ve found a blog online run by Ritchie Hicks, many people on there say they have reported it to you
10:50:06 Agent Amber: OK. Please follow this link: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-fraud-about-you and select the relevant option regarding your situation to report this matter.
10:53:14 Customer Richard Steele: I did that on the weekend, reported it as phishing as so far I haven’t lost any money, however, they are now threatening with debt collectors and court action if I don’t pay within 8 days. My questions are, are you aware of them, are you doing anythi
10:53:30 Customer Richard Steele: anything about it and should I pay them?
10:58:41 Agent Amber: I’d advise that you follow the link to report this and receive a reference number. You will then be able to provide this to the debt collectors.
10:59:53 Customer Richard Steele: Can you confirm that they are on your list and being investigated?
11:00:51 Agent Amber: Unfortunately, we do not have a list as we do not take part in any investigation process.
11:01:34 Customer Richard Steele: So what Action does ActionFraud take?
11:03:31 Agent Amber: Action Fraud is the National Reporting Centre for victims of Fraud and Cyber Crime. We take reports on behalf of the City of London Police and pass them onto the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau for analysis.
11:03:46 Agent Amber: Reports are sent to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau who determine the investigation of each report. They will analyse the information in your report and may pass it onto your local police force depending on any viable lines of enquiry.
11:04:15 Customer Richard Steele: So how do I contact them?
11:05:26 Agent Amber: Action Fraud take reports on behalf of the NFIB. I’d advise following the provided link to report this matter.
11:07:13 Customer Richard Steele: That appears to be just dropping my report into a black hole, this has been going on for a long time with a lot of people, I just want to know if anything has been done
11:11:01 Agent Amber: I can only advise that you report this matter to ourselves. Each report that is submitted is linked with any others with the same suspect information.
11:11:16 Agent Amber: Your report will link with any others who have also reported this.
11:12:29 Customer Richard Steele: that really doesn’t help with my question of whether I should pay them at all
11:13:46 Agent Amber: I would advise not paying the fee. As previously mentioned, once you report the matter you will be provided with a reference number which you can provide to the debt collectors.
11:14:12 Customer Richard Steele: thanks, bye
11:14:21 Agent Amber: Take care. Thank you for using the Action Fraud Chat Service.
Thank you so much for this blog and its updates. I was sent the letter, saw nothing about a fee or T&Cs and filled in the form as I could not get onto the website at the time, assumed it was Companies House writing. I then received the bill. I was horrified and worried sick as cannot afford it, so emailed them immediately to advise of the error. I then looked them up on the web and found your blog. I have today received their letter saying they understand my situation but its a binding contract and therefore the monies are due. Having seen this blog and the updates, I will now ignore them and store their correspondence. I will also report it to Action Fraud. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you. Piera
We have also fallen foul of this, I usually pride myself in being very diligent about reading all small print so was filled with dread when I received their letter. This forum has helped me regain a bit of confidence but does anyone know if it’s safe to not respond/not pay up? I received the email today that a lot of you report talking about the ‘cooling off’ period and still having to pay the invoice etc, has anyone had to deal with any repercussions from not paying it? We can’t afford it and I’m worried I’ll lose my job.
Hi. Do date, NO ONE has been taken to court. Having been contacted by many hundreds of people and spent many hours researching this company, I doubt very much that anyone ever will be. They prey on small business. Their practices are dubious. Don’t lose any sleep over it. They are just trying to scare you. It’s a massive con which has been used in many different forms and many different names for a number of years.
I believe returning their prepaid envelopes costs them money, send them a Christmas card or a blank sheet of A4. It does worry me how many people have paid in haste. Where am I supposed to send the actual scam letter to?
I’ve had the initial letter this morning and seeing how it looked strange I Googled and found your blog. I will be reporting them too. Thanks for helping everyone with spreading awareness of this scam.
I got a letter from this company today. Thanks to this post (and a hunch it was a scam) I have dodged a bullet …well, some hassle at least! I have a recommendation for anyone who hears from this company in the future…Take a newspaper and tear it up into small bits and stuff the pre-paid envelope with it and send it back. As there is no stamp required it will be the company who has to pay to receive the letter. I think my letter will cost them about a fiver to collect! Hahahahaha!
Thankfully, i re-read the full letter from back to front then took a photo and posted and shared on facebook today….I ripped up my letter and placed in some junk mail to there free paid envelope…..
I’ll be sharing your blog news too, hopefully to help other small business keep well away from these dirty scamming scum bags.
Franki
We run a small DVD rental and sales shop in Northumberland.
Wish I’d seen this before, I thought I’d never be scammed but when you are busy and you receive these things by post it’s easy to be caught out. THERE IS NO WAY I’LL BE PAYING THIS BILL (993.00 euros)
I wish I’d seen this earlier, we run a small business in Northumberland and like others I opened the mail when I was quite busy doing many other things and thinking it’s from Company’s House I quickly signed it and put it back in the post in the envelope provided, not noticing the address.
A couple of weeks later the bill for 993 euros (around £840) arrived.
I tried to email them via their website but when I clicked ‘send’ it didn’t work so I emailed them from my own account. It’s now 24 hours since I sent this, it didn’t bounce back but so far I’ve receive no reply. No doubt I’ll be getting a reminder to pay soon.
I an not going to pay this and I guess I’m not alone so good luck all.
We thank you for your e-mail dated 23rd November 2016 and confirm that an advertisement order was indeed placed when returning the original order form to us, duly signed and dated on 22nd October 2016.
Since your cancellation request was not sent to us within the contractual cooling off period of fifteen days from the date of signature your order has come into force and you can now view your advertising on our website: http://www.com-reg.com.
Despite your explanations it is clearly inscribed on our contracts that we are a private company, not linked in any way with a government department and we are surprised by your comments since it is also clearly stated in our cover letter that our company “is not affiliated with a public authority or any official entity”.
As there is no doubt that a contract was legally entered into, we ask you to settle the outstanding invoice within the next few days and remain,
Yours faithfully.
Customer Support Dept.
http://www.com-reg.com
This is my first reply to a demand informing me that I’ve signed an agreement:
Dear Sirs,
When I signed this I was not aware that you are a private company. It was only when I received the invoice I realised it, plus our business is experiencing financial problems at present struggling to pay others and may be forced to close down in the near future therefore we are not in a position to pay for it.
Your company deliberately gives the impression by calling this “England Commercial Register” that it’s a government request hoping you’ll not see the exorbitant charge in the small print and you know this.
This must be cancelled with immediate effect as I will not be paying for it.
Thank you.
My compnay received the same letter today. It rang alarm bells straight away as i wary when it comes to official letters etc ! After a quick google i found this very helpful thread ! The letter shall be shredded ! Cheers Guys
Great. Glad it helped you. That’s why I made it 😉
just received this cr*p.. i sent them an email to cancel and then googled this company. Thank god for this thread. not going to get a penny 🙂
i have received almost identical documentation addressed to a small community shop in my village and through a misunderstanding signed the original so called contract in error. On receipt of the Direct Publisher SLU invoice i and my colleagues went into audit mode and agree with all the comments made by others on this website. i shall be reporting the matter to Action Fraud after this write up and not responding to any further corespondence that DLU may write to us. They will receive no payment and i look forward to meeting their lawyers in Court alongside all of you!
We too received one of these today. I did of course return the prepaid envelope – enclosing a short sharp expletive. Shysters.
I would like to thank you all for your comments.
I have just received a letter this morning from England Commercial Register. I didn’t know what it was about so did a search and found all your very useful thread.
This letter is going to be filed in the bin.
Thank you
They’ve changed their letter! I received one this morning from “England Commercial Register” with an elongated St George’s cross as it’s logo. Supposedly ‘England Companies Commercial register’, and yet based in Madrid!!
Slightly different proposal on this letter – I have to pay, apparently, to ‘avoid the removal of your incomplete company details’.
The final line states:
‘We thank you for your contribution to keep Commercial Register up to date and wish you success with your publication.
Best regards
Chef (sic) editor’
What publication are they talking about? A cookery book perhaps?!
Still http://www.com-reg.com and still charging 993Euros.
This has been sent with a pre-pay envelope to a French address – even though they are from Madrid, and this is for “England Companies”.
What heavy things should I send back in said envelope…?
Hi all.
Yes, just had the same arrive today. In fact I see from the Ts & Cs that this is a minimum THREE year ‘agreement’ of 993 Euros EACH YEAR!!!
Filed under ‘B’ for Bin.
Thanks very much for all the great information here. Funnily enough we are certainly not a new company as we have been trading for more than 6 years – and they have posted this to our ‘trading as’ address and not our registered company name or address, so they’re perhaps now just left with trawling through business directories, or buying in bogus company data for their mailing list. I’m not sure anyone else in the company would have checked, and I feel very lucky this has been intercepted by me.
Glad to see this. Couldn’t understand it at first. i got the prepaid return envelope too, and have returned it to them with a brief message!
hi , i also received today letter & prepaid envelope
im planning to print few hundred of those prepaid envelopes & keep sending them empty reply’s (on there postage cost)
Ours turned up today. I’m too suspicious of everything now. So instantly looked for SCAM.
After working it out it went in the bin. But I’m now thinking of sending some other postal junk in the reply envelope.
Hi,
Is there any chance you could send me the picture showing how the original letter look like with the company house on it which will be good proof of confirming that there is terms and conditions or any information about the payment required.
Thanks in advance
Kate
I can’t for this one, but you can see almost the same scam with the same company here.
hi Ritchie
I am in the middle of this scam and thanks to you i’m not such a nervous wreck. I have had the reminders and the 8 days to pay the legal department and now the international recovery agency. my employers cant wait to see what happens as i am only the receptionist . I do keep reading your blog as it makes me feel better to know im not the only one to be scammed . Thanks for just being there.
Hi Avril. I’m sorry you’re worrying about this. Personally, I wouldn’t. These people prey on fear but I have never found evidence that a single case has been taken to court, let alone that anyone being forced to pay it.
Thank you for your advise, it has been helpful.
We received a letter from ‘England Commercial Register – Publication of companies’ it sound like a scam!! The Free Post envelope is for an address in France …DIRECT PUBLISHER, Autorisation 44092, 95929 ROISSY, CDG CEDEX
for details of the letter received, see below to warn others!!
England Commercial Register
publication of companies
England Companies Commercial Register
Date: 22 November 2016
Please amend and confirm your changes on page 2 and return the form to us as soon as possible.
Filing Deadline 30.12.2016
Removal of your company details
Dear Sir / Madam,
In order to avoid the removal of your incomplete company details, please revise and approve your information promptly.
Should the information provided not be correct or be incomplete, you have the opportunity to amend your information as a basic data entry (company name, trade, city, postcode) under Commercial Register: wvvw.com-reg.com ‘Update’ Box. You will not be charged for this.
If you require the publication of further company details which exceeds the scope of the basic data entry, please use the attached form and return it to us. As our company is not affiliated with a public authority or any official entity, this entry is subject to a charge. In this case, please ensure that the form is signed by an authorised signatory. The application for an entry in our Commercial Register targets companies, self-employed persons, institutions and authorities and not private persons.
We thank you for your contribution to keep Commercial Register up to date and wish you success with your publication.
Best regards
Chef editor 732/173CX
Department Data
Direct Publisher, SLU: Fuencarral 160 – E-28010 Madrid . Fax +34 912 727 288 – E-Mail: NF: ES B-87371464
I manage a branch of a multi-site, national company. I am somewhat hazy as to whether I signed something and sent it back but I seem to recall following their offer to verify my details for free on the website. As I work branch of a larger company, I am not in a position to authorise invoices of this amount, moreover any decisions such as this are taken centrally. Further I would certainly not have signed something quoting “legally binding”. This is how I know there was no explicit mention of a charge of €993 in the documents, as a) I cannot authorise this in my capacity as Store Manager, and b) it is not a very attractive offer for a simple listing. On Saturday, I received my first “PAYMENT NOTICE” letter. I noticed that our store details appeared on the http://www.com]-[reg.com (which I have been unable to get onto for 2 days now) website, as well as two other of our branches and Head Office. I have notified Action Fraud and have no intention of paying them. Thanks for the blog, I will keep you informed as to how it plays out.
Thanks for your feedback.
We received one of these letters today and as I never fill out any form without checking the proper source and thank god I found this website.
Form has been shredded
Thank you
Brilliant! One less company conned by this shisters!
I hope this helps. I received a letter this morning and just rescued it from the bin after reading this article. Attached is a link where you can download the covering letter, form for completion.
The arms and conditions printed in light grey were on the back of the form itself.
Hope this helps
Mark
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2TnqSof3XTrWmlHWDdrT1duYVE/view?usp=sharing
Hi
I have just received one of these letters 20 mins ago! I did a quick search on the net and found this. Thanks for the warning, I will destroy the letter now. X
We just got one! I sent back the pre-paid envelope with a short note! Nothing else.
Thanks for this blog. Appreciated.
thanks for this blog! Got one of these letters this morning, has now gone straight in the shredder.
As the owner of a small business I too have received a letter today 13/12/16 and without this blog would have probably filled it in.
I have subsequently shredded their letter. So thanks!
As we reach the calendar year end also be aware of an e-mail from people posing as HMRC suggesting you are entitled to a year end refund and all you have to provide are the card details attached to your government gateway account (used for paying VAT)
Their letter looks very authentic, even including the HMRC logo and contact address and I recently got scammed by them as I had reported my year end figures and completed my final quarter VAT return and therefore was expecting a personal tax refund.
Luckily for me my bank provider highlighted the unusual usage on my card and contacted me to advise of these transactions.
Please double check all correspondence with HMRC direct.
Good Luck!
I too have received the same letter please do not fill it out, rip up the letter and post the empty envelope so they have at least got to pay for that
I have also recieved one of these. I suggest sending something heavy and valueless back in the reply paid envelope. Satisfying, if not enough to destroy their ‘business’ model.
What’s up it’s me, I am also visiting this web page on a regular basis,
this website is genuinely pleasant and the viewers are in fact sharing pleasant
thoughts.
I unfortunately have also been caught out by this scam and had my first payment demand a few days ago and felt sick since that I stupidly hurriedly signed. I have informed I will not be paying and will seek legal representation if I am Persued. I am going to try to block their emails
Just found this, had the same, it was sent to them, when I was away. On return I rung them to say I didn’t want to be included on any register, they informed me I just had to e mail to cancel, which I did within the 15 days.
But I still received an invoice, called again was told the same thing again.
They claim they never received the original e mail, yeah right !! so I sent it again, twice !
They said I could request to cancel by e mail but it wouldn’t guarantee the cancellation.
I replied stating that their call centre shouldn’t give false information then.
The response this morning included..
“, we confirm that you can indeed e-mail or send by formal letter your cancelation request, although this does not automatically leads to a cancelation of your contract.”
Seriously wtf!!
I have reported this and told them I won’t be paying and won’t be responding to them in future.
I’m glad I found this, I thought I was dealing with monkeys, but appears it’s just fraudsters.
We too received an invoice yesterday (5/1/17) for £863 following a form I sent back in November. In my view they have inserted a block of text above my signature stating that it is a ORDER and we would commit to the £863 charge. In fact on the copy of the form they sent back one can see a line where it has been inserted. There is no way I would have signed that if that text had been there. I have decided that a) we will not be paying and b) that I will not be contacting them and ignore all demands and I suspect it’ll go away. The only thing that I’d like to do (although obviously the company wouldn’t oblige ) is to ask that they send me back my original form which, if it ever went to court they’d need to provide anyway as I’m certain the text above my signature wasn’t there
I agree with you, I don’t think the text was there on mine either and the photocopy has distinct colouration changes as if it may have been added, and I’m assured no one sent anything off asking for any payment.
Hi Ritchie,
I received the same letter in the end of November last year adding a form to it that didn’t say any kind of payment on it. Now they’ve forwarded me an invoice saying that I need to pay €993 to them and along with the invoice they’ve sent me my signed contract as well, although I remember very well that the form that I signed never showed any kind of payment on it.
I replied that I searched on google and found that you guys are a scam and also spoke to the Companies House personally and asked them about if you’re acting on behalf of the Companies House and they clearly denied and clarified that it’s a fraudulent company, so just ignore them and you don’t need to take any action.
I’m somehow quite confident now, because if the government of UK is saying that they’re a fraud then I don’t care about whatever action they want to take, they can go ahead.
Thanks a lot for your help Ritchie, your article was of huge help.
Hello Narinder. I haven’t heard from them for a couple of months now (October 2016). Maybe they’ve got the hint!
Just received another email yesterday demanding for the payment at the earliest. I showed to the owner of the business as well and he said just to avoid any emails from them because there’s no point wasting time on replying.
I think I’ll just avoid emails from them from now on because I clarified them twice to cancel our contract and we’re not going to pay them but seems like they’re not getting it.
Hi Narinder,
Im very grateful you posted your last two posts as that is the point at which I am with this company. I didnt think to check with Company’s House but did report on Action Fraud. I am now ignoring (and keeping) all correspondence from them and watching this site in the interim.
Piera
Many thanks to all who have shared details – we were almost caught but have followed your lead.
We are now Ignoring and Retaining correspondence.
Hi all,
I have just received the third reminder for payment which I will ignore but … they are now threatening legal if I do not pay. Anyone else at this point? Safe to still ignore?
Got the same 3 months ago. Ignored it. Not heard a squeak since. They hate this blog, which makes me very happy.
Oh good. Thank you for that.
Yes. My community shop is in the same position and are looking forward to going to court!
We had a phone call this very day from a guy asking who pays our overseas invoices., when I stated we didn’t do any overseas business he politely ended the phone call. I suspect it was the scammers Commercial Register.
I must say it is so refreshing to know we were not the only company ALMOST caught out by this scam. They can send Charles Atlas (ask your grandad) and we still won’t pay!
Our story is so similar to everyone else on this site. It’s important to support each other. I’ve told Ella King (whoever she or he is) in our last e mail to them on the 20th January, that we will not be replying to any further e mails and will definitely not be paying them.
Oh My God!!!
I have just found this blog and I got stung too! Like others, I filled out a form which I thought was something to do with Government. When I got their invoice, I freaked out, and then when I had calmed down, I thought, this is probably a scam. I wrote them back explaining that I did not want their listing, that there are free, and much cheaper industry specific listings on directories that work for us. (Basically their product is rubbish). I had thought the form was a government form and I said to them that the for doesn’t LOOK like an order form. I also said that I thought hteir marketing methods were sneaky, and the fact that they had enclosed a photocopy of my handwritten form and signature suggested that they EXPECT people to be writing back to them saying “Hey! I never ordered this”
Today I heard back from them: “We are surprised that you can invoke a “mistake” when you had all the time deemed necessary to review our explanatory cover letter and order form before returning it validated.”
Hmmm….. I don’t think they can really be all that surprised, now that I have read this blog, I am so relieved it is a scam…. Although I am worried about being hassled by future demands, and feel stupid for not reading the initial information properly. However, I note that some of you say that they have re-scanned the information onto a different document. Anyway, THANK YOU so much for this blog, it is very helpful. I will report them to the police link.
I have had a letter today enclosing a copy of the invoice for this years advertisement and stating that last years invoice has not been paid. I have ignored everything last year and will be doing the same this year.
I have just read your comment, so no repercussions with not paying….
None reported thus far…
I am at the beginning of the same scam, I got the letters sent back early this week and I emailed saying I wanted to cancel, they have written back with the same response concluding I need to pay not cancelled within the cooling off period.
I’m nervous but also glad to see others are not paying this and I have reported to action fraud…..
I will keep watching to see where it ends.
I would personally have the utmost confidence to represent myself in our local County Court against any writ brought against us by Commercial Register knowing others have suffered the same scam. We must all be strong and face up to these people. We are a law abiding business, who pride ourselves on paying our invoices on time. I was discussing tihis very topic with our IT technician, and he stated in his opinion, like a lot of these scams there will be very little outlay or cost to them and huge profits to gain if they can get away with it.
Like a lot of people I originally felt humiliated for falling for this scam, however it was a clever one I have to give them at least that credit. You name it and I’m an expert, Inland revenue tax refund, IPI, rates reduction, utility savings, top of the Google promises and the new one, henancing your Facebook page for only a £100 per week. Either via phone calls or e mails to our office, we don’t fall for any of them.
I read with interest on this blog one company who almost ended up doing a deal with Commercial Register for something like £350.00 to cancel the contract completely and although I can see how they might have thought this was the answer, I was delighted to read they didn’t in the end pay a penny.
I would personally have the utmost confidence to represent myself in our local County Court against any writ brought against us by Commercial Register knowing others have suffered the same scam.
We are a law abiding business, who pride ourselves on paying our invoices on time. I was discussing tihis very topic with our IT technician, and he stated in his opinion, like a lot of these scams there will be very little outlay or cost to them and huge profits to gain if they can get away with it.
Like a lot of people I originally felt humiliated for falling for this scam, however it was a clever one I have to give them at least that credit. You name it and I’m an expert, Inland revenue tax refund, IPI, rates reduction, utility savings, top of the Google promises and the new one, henancing your Facebook page for only a £100 per week. Either via phone calls or e mails to our office, we don’t fall for any of them.
I read with interest on this blog one company who almost ended up doing a deal with Commercial Register for something like £350.00 to cancel the contract completely and although I can see how they might have thought this was the answer, I was delighted to read they didn’t in the end pay a penny.
I would personally have the utmost confidence to represent myself in our local County Court against any writ brought against us by Commercial Register knowing others have suffered the same scam.
We are a law abiding business, who pride ourselves on paying our invoices on time. I was discussing tihis very topic with our IT technician, and he stated in his opinion, like a lot of these scams there will be very little outlay or cost to them and huge profits to gain if they can get away with it.
Like a lot of people I originally felt humiliated for falling for this scam, however it was a clever one I have to give them at least that credit. You name it and I’m an expert, Inland revenue tax refund, IPI, rates reduction, utility savings, top of the Google promises and the new one, henancing your Facebook page for only a £100 per week. Either via phone calls or e mails to our office, we don’t fall for any of them.
I read with interest on this blog one company who almost ended up doing a deal with Commercial Register for something like £350.00 to cancel the contract completely and although I can see how they might have thought this was the answer, I was delighted to read they didn’t in the end pay a penny.
ritchiehicks et al,
FYI, this letter received from ActionFraud today.
+++
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been a victim of crime. Thank you for taking the time to report to Action Fraud.
All Action Fraud reports are passed to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and we review every crime to
identify investigative leads and opportunities to disrupt criminal activity. We have reviewed your report and I
regret to inform you that we have not identified any leads that would result in a successful criminal
investigation therefore your report has not been sent to a local police force or other enforcement organisation
to commence an investigation at this time.
Please be assured that we have not closed your report and it will continue to be reviewed against new
information received from Action Fraud reports and other intelligence sources. If it is linked to an
investigative opportunity in the future we will contact you.
If you would like information on what support is available to you, please visit the Victims’ Information Service
website http://www.victimsinformationservice.org.uk. If you would like information on how to protect yourself from
fraud please visit http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/support_for_you or you can call them on 0300 123 2040.
I would recommend that you sign up to http://www.actionfraudalert.co.uk so you can receive warning messages
about new and emerging scams and practical prevention advice. This is a free service and allows you to
receive tips, guidance and helpful advice to prevent fraud against you.
If you have any queries regarding this letter please visit http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/FAQ where you will find
answers to the most common questions. You may also submit questions which you feel are not addressed
by the FAQ using our online form.
Thank you for taking the time to report to Action Fraud. Every report we receive contributes to building an
accurate picture of the fraud threat. It is critical for policing to identify and disrupt suspected criminals now
and in the future and we will strive to provide practical prevention advice to protect the community and
businesses.
Yours sincerely
Matthew Bradford
Director NFIB
+++
Fell for this scam like others on here.
Fine others saying do not pay, take no notice of the demands.
As they are based outside the UK, surely as such they have no hold over us and as such all is null and void.
Has anyone got copies of a solicitors letter or point us in the right direction as to getting further advice.
Have reported it to Action Fraud, which is well and good, they don’t answer the phone and it could take up to 28 days to get a response, to which unless they get enough complaints about one company/fraud, they may not take any further action!!!!
For everyone’s info, this letter received from Action Fraud today.
+++
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been a victim of crime. Thank you for taking the time to report to Action Fraud.
All Action Fraud reports are passed to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and we review every crime to
identify investigative leads and opportunities to disrupt criminal activity. We have reviewed your report and I
regret to inform you that we have not identified any leads that would result in a successful criminal
investigation therefore your report has not been sent to a local police force or other enforcement organisation
to commence an investigation at this time.
Please be assured that we have not closed your report and it will continue to be reviewed against new
information received from Action Fraud reports and other intelligence sources. If it is linked to an
investigative opportunity in the future we will contact you.
If you would like information on what support is available to you, please visit the Victims’ Information Service
website http://www.victimsinformationservice.org.uk. If you would like information on how to protect yourself from
fraud please visit http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/support_for_you or you can call them on 0300 123 2040.
I would recommend that you sign up to http://www.actionfraudalert.co.uk so you can receive warning messages
about new and emerging scams and practical prevention advice. This is a free service and allows you to
receive tips, guidance and helpful advice to prevent fraud against you.
If you have any queries regarding this letter please visit http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/FAQ where you will find
answers to the most common questions. You may also submit questions which you feel are not addressed
by the FAQ using our online form.
Thank you for taking the time to report to Action Fraud. Every report we receive contributes to building an
accurate picture of the fraud threat. It is critical for policing to identify and disrupt suspected criminals now
and in the future and we will strive to provide practical prevention advice to protect the community and
businesses.
Yours sincerely
Matthew Bradford
Director NFIB
+++
My business fell for this scam where they had scanned the signature of my secretary onto the form. This was four years ago and at that time I registered it with Action Fraud and also went to see my local MP Nick Clegg and he wote to them to tell them to stop harrassing me.
Last week I had a phone call from a Teo Lopez
Legal advisor
Credit Collection Factoring s.r.o.
CZ 120 00, Prague 2, P.O.BOX 42
Tel. + 420 226 223 020
Fax. + 420 226 223 028
tl@cc-factoring.com
http://www.cc-factoring.com
He sent me the email below;
We, Credit Collection Factoring S.r.o. (CCF), are duly authorized by our client Portal Empresarial S.L. to act on its behalf in order to collect from ‘MY COMPANY NAME’ the comercial debt related to the advertisiment services provided by our client on the internet site Industry + Commerce
According to our records, your company signed a legally binding B2B (Business to Business) contract on 27 April 2013, ordering a premium advertisement on the Web Portal Industry + Commerce managed by Portem (Paterna – Spain). The marketing proposal provided information about of the payable ad: annual cost (997,00 EUR), minimum duration (three years) and possibility to cancel within the cooling off period (two weeks). Your company, chose to fill in, sign and return back the order and by doing so adhered to a legally binding agreement requesting a payable entry in our client’s web portal. According to our client, your company never paid for the service.
The total overdue amount stands at 3.619,11 EUR (Three Thousand Six Hundred Nineteen 11/100), as specified in attached copy of last unpaid invoice.
The aim of our firm is to find an amicable solution in order to avoid a legal recourse that will incur in additional costs for both parties. I have been instructed to resolve your case amicable within five (5) business days in order to avoid recovery through the European order for payment. I invite you to consult the following government site for further information:
https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_order_for_payment_procedures-41-ew-fr.do?clang=en
‘MY COMPANY NAME’ should proceed to liquidate its overdue account before the end of the five-day period. Payment should be made via wire transfer to the following Porten bank account.
Holder: PORTAL EMPRESARIAL, S.L.
Bank’s name: CAJAMAR – CAJA RURAL
IBAN: ES33 3058 2108 8727 2000 3573
BIC/SWIFT: CCRIES2A
Ref.: Order PE No 637864 out of court settlement.
I am now going to reply with the obvious, “I have no intention of paying anything” but just wanted to post where my update is up to.
Also funnily enough on the 22nd November last year I recieved a new letter from the England Commercial Register with the new scam!
Has anyone else been contacted by their so-called Legal Advisor?
If it looks and smells like bullshit, it’s usually bullshit! Since when did Factoring become debt collection?
Why would a Spanish company use a debt collection agency in the Czech Republic?
And where have they got £3619 from? This letter smacks of the same tactics that Direct Publisher use.
I had a look at their domain name registry info, and the cc-factoring . com address is registered to:
Adrian Wittmer
Varsavska 36, Praha 2 12000 CZ
Phone: +420.601375120
Email:adrianwittmer@yahoo.com
Why would a genuine company register their domain name to a private individual? I also looked at the address which appears to be residential.
Hi. Ive been ignoring this company as per this blog. They continue to threaten and now I have recd a letter from their Legal Department threatening legal action. So… one just ignores it right? they cannot take us to court ?
We too have been duped by this! (or at least tried to be).
As a director of a successful and growing digital marketing company I feel like a fool, but looking back on it I think I’m being too hard on myself.
The document that I was said to have signed certainly wasn’t the document I did actually sign. . it’s amazing what a scanner in Madrid can do!
I’m vigilant and frugal, I care about our companies finances, and its image.. there is no way I would have signed the alleged document, I always read the small print.
Well done Commercial Register (We know you’re reading this), you nearly got away with it., but please don’t take us Brits for fools, we invented the telephone and steam engine for god sake.
So Commercial Register (or Direct Publisher S.L.U) What’s your next scam? Robbing old people in the street? Stealing charity boxes from the local shop?
Been duped too? Don’t be hard on yourself, they were very clever.. but at least they’ve been found out thanks to this blog.. shows what you can do when people stick together for a common cause 🙂
RIP Commercial Register, you lost!
Just got one of those letters and read your blog, big big thank you letter has been filed…. in the bin!
just received the initial letter. All very official looking. Thought it was a scam and a payment would be claimed somewhere down the line.
Found it!!
Point 5 in the terms and conditions.
I have returned the empty envelope to them.
I then googled and found this.
Thanks for confirming my thoughts.
Good luck with your fight!
I am a sole trader and have received this letter today. I recognised it as a scam I had received a few years ago before. Nobody seems to have spotted that the “contract” is for Three years minimum and the amount demanded (£863 + vat) is per year. The unfortunate thing is that they obviously manage to trick enough people into paying up, to make it worth their while. Why doesn’t the Spanish government do anything?
Received a copy of the letter from Commercial Register this morning.
Having read it, I’d realised it was ‘fishy’ so to satisfy my curiosity I checked online and found this blog.
Needless to say, they won’t be getting a response from me
Got a letter today.
Knew it was a scam straight away as I deal with Companies House a lot and my company name and address was 10 years out of date. Initially it certainly looks like they are trying to copy official Companies House documentation.
Returned the form with new address at 66 Scammers Lane and signed by Joe Isn’t Scammed.
Hi, I just got a letter today. Thought it was not right so checked on the internet and found this blog. Thank you everyone.
I have also received another letter from ‘Publication of companies and VAT Registration Numbers in the UK Corporate Portal 2017’ requesting I complete the form with our VAT registration no. and send back to them to register on the UK portal. Payment here is 797 GBP. I think this is also some scam although the letter looks official. I am going to ignore it so be careful everyone.
I received a letter from Commercial Register this morning. Once I saw that they wanted 863 GB Pounds per year I realised it was a scam and will therefore not be responding. Let’s see what they do about it. If they come back to me again, I’ll report them to Action Fraud.
Thanks for the blog, as it confirmed my suspicion.
I can see why people get confused, as it is looks like it’s from a government agency.
Thank you for this blog as i have received a letter today they where trying for 863+vat returned prepaid envelop with a blank sheet of paper in I hope they have to pay for the postage
I received one of these today – again went through the same process as many of you – it looked like a scam so checked online – thanks for putting up this blog to confirm my suspicions.
I have returned the pre-paid envelope to them filled with glitter and confetti – childish I know, but we got a laugh out of it in the office.
I too have received an initial letter today from the ‘Spanish branch’, having 3 weeks ago received one from Germany, which I shredded. In fact they refer to a company in which I was a partner with my husband until his death in Jan 2014. The business was taken over by some friends-all done through legal and official channels. I find this most distressing some 3 years after my husband suddenly died-an experience I am still trying to come to terms with!
Ridiculous scam letter received at my UK business address 10 Feb 2017.
Included a post-paid envelope to a French address.
Destroyed original letter, returned ‘appropriate written communication’ instead.
Small victories 🙂
ps: I wish I had thought of stuffing the envelope with glitter.
I’ll leave that delight for someone else, please! 🙂
Lots of cakers including me have received this today. I had to read it 3 times to make sure it was what I initially thought it was, a scam. Does look very official and they must terrify a lot of people into paying. Shredded letter, returned rude note in their pre paid envelope – let them lose some money!
What a CON!! I’ve just got one of those letters and read your blog, thanks for your reassurance it rubbish!
I got this letter today, seemed a little odd so read it properly and realised it was a scam. Searched and found this blog, it would have been so easy just to sign it if you were busy, if feel sorry for the people who actually end up paying these scammers.
A letter stuffed with glitter is on its way back to them!
For info if undelivered return address on the original envelope I got through the post is “DP, 1 Atlas Street, Bristol, BS20FP”
I received one of these letters last week. What surprises me is how many people have actually filled it in the first place.
Any letter that makes a demand that I MUST, or NEED to do something immediately raises my suspicions.
Firstly the footer of the letter shows that it is a direct publisher based in Madrid – this invalidated, for me, any official standing the letter may have had. This acted as a primer to find out what the actual scam was, and on the form itself, in the section where you would sign and put a company stamp, it states clearly that you agree to pay £863 per year. The per year then gave me cause to read the conditions overleaf, where it states there is a minimum of 3 years subscription. So by filling in this form I would have agreed to be listed on some non-existent, unofficial register, and all for the princely sum of 3 x £863.
Come on folks… it is all there in the letter, and if you can’t be bothered to read it, and then get a bill – then that should hopefully teach you to bloody well read before you sign anything, or if you aren’t capable get a lawyer to do it for you.
As for the cure, just don;t pay the bill, and just shred any letter and demands that come from them. Basically tell them you’ll see them court if they want to pursue it; and take note that if ever there is a court date set for this, make sure you turn up to plead your end of the story, you will automatically lose if you are a no-show.
It must be great to be perfect, Tim.
I thought the same Ritchie,
Im self employed, just had serious back surgery and tried to get cleared up before the op..
I filled in the form as i thought it was something to do with the government checking our addresses etc..
I didn’t read everything as i was rushing so i too have a payment notice of £863.00.
Im a new shop, self employed sole trader, its all new to me so i thought this was a genuine form to fill from the government..
But thank god i read all this and won’t be paying..
I actually called them and the lady i spoke with was incredibly rude, told them i wanted to cancel and she said, you can cancel but you still need to pay the £863,,…
I then went on to tell her that the other businesses on the same listing are not even companies as i called the relevant numbers. its all made up.
She was getting really rude with me, i asked how would this listing benefit me, how do people find me etc, couldn’t answer..
Its just wrong….
JUST RECEIVED SAME LETTER TODAY WHAT A SCAM PLEASE READ AND BE CAREFULL PUT IT IN THE BIN
Received today, knew it wasn’t Companies House, and thought it looked suspicious. Thanks for the confirmation and the suggestions to return the pre-paid envelope full so they have to pay for it. Have done with tri-lingual note.
To be fair the form ‘CR-01’ does say clearly “The cost per year of publication is 863 BGP plus VAT if applicable.” But in people’s defense, that is in the midle of the paragraph, calling it CR-01 makes it seem official, and the front page has a filing deadline and states that “This service is cost free.” Once people have read that they will switch off and just fill out the form. Or apparenlty at least enough will to make it worth this dodgy company engaging in this scam rather than doing any real work.
Received the original letter and thankfully read the small print, I smell a rat, googled it and what do you know…. it’s a scam! Thanks everyone for your input, I have managed to dodge the bullet! I hope you all continue to ignore this awful organisation and I hope they get what they deserve v soon!
What a backwards little country we live in that this exact scam has been operating for months and the letters are still being delivered, address and name unchanged etc.
Mine was delivered yesterday.
What the hell are Action Fraud doing?
I received the letter today requesting payment of £868.88…shocked!! I can’t thank you all enough for the information. I will report to Action Fraud in morning…and I can sleep tonight…!
Many thanks
Anne
THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 5 YEARS
I was scammed by what seems to be the same fraudsters around five years ago under a different title e-commerce but under the same formal format. I didnt sign the letter and it had no mention of three years of advertising. I have ignored them for five years and they even stopped phoning for around two years but they did phone again around Christmas saying they were solicitors working on behalf of e-commerce for unpaid debts and they will be taking me to court for around 5k. I told them where to go (again) and they have not come back.
I have just received another letter this week now titled “commercial register”. These scammers make me feel sick and really need to be stopped. What can we do to stop businesses being scammed and harassed.
There’s nothing businesses can do to stop them, sadly.
Thanks for confirmation it’s a scam received my letter yesterday going straight in the bin, though did like the glitter idea.
Got one from this lot in the post to my small business, spotted it was a scam as the company details were pulled from our website and not whats at Companies House, so I read the T&Cs on teh back and saw it was for a years advert in their rubbish publication. Checked on line and found this blog.
I got a letter in Jan from “Commercial Register” (they’ve updated their logo since your original post, now with e crest to seem more “legit”). The verbiage is extremely misleading as they pretend to be associated with an official regulatory body like Companies House, when in fact they are some sort of dodgy publication/directory scamming small businesses into “advertising” with them. The small print saying they are registered in Spain gives away that I need not do ANYTHING about it as it’s nothing to do with my business based in the UK.
I did receive something similar last year as well and ignored it then. I hope everyone ignores it so they just end up wasting money on printing and postage and wither away into the ether.
Received a 3rd reminder from Commercial Register today.
I’m ignoring it and any demands from debt collectors. I will contest this scam in County Court if necessary.
Malcolm
Doubt it will ever get to CC!
After my letter on Tuesday, I have now received a demanding e-mail..I will reply…SCAM forwarded to Action Fraud UK. I hope they have enough evidence to stop harassing innocent people. I feel sorry for those who havent found this blog & have paid…
I have today received a letter from The Scammers – Commercial Register Legal Department (Department Juridique)
Appears they are registered in Spain, still demanding money.
Letter looks very threatening. We still won’t be paying them. As I have previously stated I I would rather meet them in an English County Court.
Yes I have one of those as well.
hi all.
im so glad ive found this website as oneof my staff member filled the form in for me and sent it back thinking he was helping and ive had 3 letters now demanding payment. as anyone been taken to court yet?. cant see it but thought id ask.
thanks dave
No one.
I informed an acquaintance of mine, who is a QC regarding this scam and his reply was, with the scammers being based in Spain it is highly unlikely they would ever contest the case in court. They are far more likely to try and blacklist companies credibility . I was strongly advised to ‘tough it out’ for a long time, they are obviously prepared to do the same judging by some of the blogs I have read.
He also suggested a strongly worded solicitors letter to them may help. However if one goes down this road it can get costly. I may be naive, but if all our credit scores per 100% with all other aspects of our financial affairs apart from this outright scam, could or would we still be blacklisted?
What do you mean by ‘blacklisted’? As far as I’m aware there’s only one way to considerably affect an organisation’s credit and that’s by obtaining a CCJ, which would require court action, and for which you would be given the right to defend yourself.
For some of the small business owners who have been scammed by this, it would be easier to close the company and re-open under another slight different name. The CCJ would then be on the old company, not the new one.
This is, of course, all hypothetical, as I doubt any bonified action will/could be taken.
Just received our third demand
Like everyone says
We have just Ignored it
Hi Richie
I’ve tried sending you an e mail to richiejhicks@gmail.com
However the e mail keeps bouncing back (even after I re named the attachment which was originally titled Commercial Register Scam to something that doesn’t sound like Spam)
Have you changed your e mail. address?
Hi Richie
I’ve tried sending you an e mail to richiejhicks@gmail.com
However the e mail keeps bouncing back (even after I re named the attachment which was originally titled Commercial Register Scam to something that doesn’t sound like Spam)
Have you changed your e mail. address?
Unfortunately just been conned by this horrific scam. It seems that the best idea is to ignore any correspondence (we have just received the 1st payment notice), we have not replied at all & certainly don’t plan to. We have reported the matter to Action Fraud. But this could be on going for say 3 years for everyone? Disgusted that people like this exist – no honest hard working person should have this stress to deal with! I am amazed that no government body whether here or in Spain is trying to stop these disgusting people. What protection do we actually have for this as there is limited advice out there for us all.
Just for the record Ritchie was correct. These scammers pray on weakness. Unless we receive an official county court summons which we would defend vigorously in court I am just ignoring all other correspondence.
I got a letter from the “Commercial Register” with an official looking crest and scary Deadline Date. However I was caught out by signing a contract a few years ago to sell my business, and didn’t read the small print, so now I always read very carefully before signing anything. This time I used their prepaid envelope to send them a pointed message, wish I’d thought of the glitter!
The selling agency that scammed me was RTA, a bunch of ***tards, who charge you for selling, make no effort to do so, then charge you for ending the contract even after the contract period is up! I lost several thousand on that one.
Peter
I have also been tricked into signing this scam and also Have received two payments which I definitely will not be paying I also have been doing some research this might help Misrepresentation Act 1967 which reads The Misrepresentation Act exists to protect consumers from false or fraudulent claims that you into buying something or entering into a contract it also allows you to claim damages I like to thank Ritchie for this blog
Misrepresentation Act 1967
The Misrepresentation Act exists to protect consumers from false or fraudulent claims that induce into buying something or entering into a contract it also allows you to claim damages
Hello there I have been scammed too.
Ive read all the bloggs, is there anyone who has actually appeared in court to argue the case?
A can find no record of anyone actually being taken to court.
I have never been contacted anyone who has been taken to court, either. Plenty of people have received threats – and one person received what looked like a Spanish Court letter – but it was un-stamped and invalid.
looks like their all puff and wind then
Hello all, I too have been tricked, and signed and returned their letter last month, thinking it was from Companies House, then today I have received an invoice for £863.00 + VAT. I will not be paying this. I did not sign and agree to any advertising, I can see from the dodgy photo copy they returned to me they have altered the document. Does anyone here have a copy of the original letter sent out please as it would give me peace of mind and would be handy to have on file to prove they did not state any cost involved. I have reported this to action fraud and have been advised it is a scam, do not pay a penny and do not contact them.
Look forward to hearing from anyone about this, and if you have an original copy then please send to me.
many thanks
Stuart
Further to my last comment, I just went through some paper work and found I kept the original letter they sent me, just not the original form that I filled in. In the letter they say should the information of your company not be correct or incomplete please correct and or amend your companies basic data consisting of company name, postal address and phone number – it states on the letter THIS SERVICE IS COST FREE. only if you require the publication of further details which would exceed the scope of the basic data entry, please use the attached form. Then they say this enhanced entry is subject to a charge.
At no stage was any cost stated!!!!!!!
Stuart
So glad to have read your blog. I felt as if I had had an off day and signed something which I hadn’t read. I am so relieved to have come across this site! I do not intend to pay them any money or even reply to any more emails. I was sent a letter with an invoice for £863 which arrived 6 weeks after I had ‘signed’ the contact and then told that the cooling off period had expired. I have now cooled off permanently!!!
We got one of the “Payment Notice” letters today, interestingly without ever having filled in any previous form. Why haven’t the Spanish police arrested these people?
Hi all , brilliant blog by Richie i’d love to see these scammers on watchdog
Sadly Watchdog is for individuals and doesn’t cover business issues.
Hello I have also received the same from Commercial Register.
I, as others have stated, thought it official.
I entered our email address on the official form along with the Name of our Principal & stamped it with our address stamp, no signature !
As others have said, further text has been added stating LEGALLY BINDING SIGNATURE /STAMP
Also stating a cost per year of £863 !
I have not & will not pay & have not entered into conversation with these unscrupulous people.
I have reported it to Fraud at Companies house and am awaiting a reply from them.
Hi all has no one had any more updates or been to court or had dept collectors at their doors?? ??
Hello James, no I haven’t received any more letters as yet, but sure I will at some point. The advice I was given from action fraud is to ignore their letters and don’t enter into any communication with them.
Thanks Stuart
Oh goodness me…upon googling this company I happened upon this blog!! Our company is in Scotland and have also been victim. I am raging! I agree that the “copy” they send back is definitely altered with the cost in the small print having not previously been there. I’m waiting to speak to Action Fraud right now and will definitely NOT be paying it.
I cannot believe this scam it has made me feel ill!! Only when I have read this blog have I been reassured that I am not so stupid as thought I was. I am very careful what I sign and when I received the first letter I genuinely thought it was just an information register I am 100% I would not have signed this had it been asking for over £800 who would in their right mind!! I have contacted the Fraud guys and they have told me not to pay.I just feel like a sitting duck expecting a legal letter to drop on my door step regarding payment. We are a small business struggling as it is and would have never signed over £800 + for a website listing of this quality. These guys need exposing and hopefully saving others the worry that I have been through. I replied saying I wanted our listing removed and they said because it had passed the 14 day cooling off period that was not possible.
Just received another letter this morning from the scammes legal department. The last 3 letters over the last 3 months have given us something like 5 days to pay on each occasion. We are Just totally ignoring there existane. I used to reply to them, I cannot even be bothered to do that now.
They try and intimidate the weak.
Just received another letter this morning from the scammes legal department. The last 3 letters over the last 3 months have given us something like 5 days to pay on each occasion. We are Just totally ignoring there existane. I used to reply to them, I cannot even be bothered to do that now.
They try and intimidate the weak.
Posted twice in error. I hope I don’t get fined!
Just received my second reques for late payment by post
Also one e mail last week explaining that I have signe a legally binding contract I’m not paying
I have had exactly the same issue but I received mine in France. I have received both email and hard copy correspondence from them and I have told them on a number of occasions in both French and English that it is just a scam.
I would almost like them to go to court so I can produce a copy of this blog site as evidence that it is an illegal contract and just a scam.
Thank you for setting this up as it does give people more confidence when they receive such threating letters.
Hi Mark
We received ours in France too. I think they found us, because we have our house in french (Maison Secondaire), registrated as a SCI.
I have been searching for a french site like this but did not find anything, do you know if there is something like action fraud in France, and did you contact them ?
Thank you and thank god for your post. I received exactly this letter! Fortunately as we are a small company it came directly to me as company owner.
I googled it and found your thread straight away. You’ve saved me a lot of heartache and it’s very much appreciated.
Hi all, just received a second letter today chasing payment. I wont be paying a penny! I have called action fraud to update them as they wanted to know if I hear anything else from this scamming company. It is reassuring that others are going through the same thing and that gives me confidence to carry on ignoring them!! ITS A TOTAL SCAM. I wont even enter into any conversation or emails with them.
Hello everyone.
I received the same letter and would have filled it in had I not read the small print in the second section that shows their charges. I still was unsure as to whether it was official until I stumbled across this site. I am a member of Checkatrade who are an excellent trade directory that I get a lot of work through and although they have many good points one of the bad points is the fact your company details are out there for everyone to see. Because of this I am bombarded with scams and cold calls etc which has made me very wary of everything my company receives now. My advise to anyone who has signed this form is not to worry and to forget about it, don’t even bother replying to anything they send and in the end they will give up.
Funny. This started for us just after joining Checkatrade!
Hi
I am danish having a smal “Maison secondaire ” in French, where we were tricked into the “registrer”.
I am quite sure that the first letter from Register commercial did not mention anything about Paying 993 € , and that they must have scanned my signature into a new ” agreement”, signifying that i had accepted to pay 993 €.
We received the first letter in spring 16, and have now received the third letter from them where thy are threatening us to pay,
At the moment they have asked us to send the K-bis and the statues in the house which i s transformed into a SCI ,
I am wondering if there are people in England with the same experience,.
But thanks alot for this site, which is a great help in this situation.
We are not going to send them these delicate papers , but i am just wondering what new misuse these papers could have been used for .
Hope that my English is not too bad to be understood.
I totally agree with Stuart , Ritchie and many others, just to totally ignore their correspondence. I also think we are going to be in for a long stand off with these scammers too. They will keep chipping away.
Keep strong and in the very unlikely event it ever went to County Court we have defence in numbers via this blog.
No negativity please.
I haven’t heard a thing in 2017 mate. They’ve gone silent.
Last week before I found this blog I tried to write an e-mail to them, but the mails where returned telling that the adress was a default.
Afterwards I tried to find there homepage without luck.
Finally i phoned the company asking them why they did not inform their “costumers” about the changes.
Talked with a frustrated lady who would not give any information, so yes I to think they have gone silent.
Received the legal letter now, last week, as others have done, I have ignored.
Here here Malcolm!! True they will probably try to scare us a few more times, but if we keep ignoring them, and have no contact they will eventually give up, as Ritchie has said he hasn’t heard from them now for a long time. They will soon get the message that they can’t scam us! 🙂
Good morning all, I have also been subject to this company demanding money. I’ve just received a letter demanding the 993.00 euros or this will go to the international debt recovery. has anyone else received this letter? did anyone come knocking? advice on what to do would be great.
Most people here have had the same. Most have ignored it. As of yet there are no reports of anyone being pursued by a debt company.
Hi Ritchiehicks, thank you for the reply. can i ask what the final letter was they sent you before they went quiet?
Just received this e mail from the scammers
Dear Sirs,
We wish to inform you that because of commercial reasons, our domain http://www.com-reg.com has changed and your advertisement in our B2B guide COMMERCIAL REGISTER is now available under http://www.comm-reg.com and our new e mail is now: info@emaildp.com
Yours faithfully
Direct – Publisher
S.L.U.
Commercial Register
Has anyone else received the same e mail?
A ha! Looks like they’ve either had their domain closed down or moved it.
Now, Given that they claim the advert was for the previous domain, changing the domain would surely make any contract void?
It must surely be classed as a significant change to the ‘contract’.
So far I’ve had two reminders to pay the bill.
I’ve also just received the following email:
Dear Sirs,
We wish to inform you that because of commercial reasons, our domain http://www.com-reg.com has changed and your advertisement in our B2B guide COMMERCIAL REGISTER is now available under: http://www.comm-reg.com and our new e-mail is now: info@emaildp.com
Yours faithfully.
General Manager
Direct-Publisher S.L.U.
Hopefully the scam is now turning in on them. We are still not entering into any dialogue with these scammers no matter what e mail address they use.
Just received this email from them, don’t know what’s going on now.
Dear Sirs,
We wish to inform you that because of commercial reasons, our domain http://www.com-reg.com has changed and your advertisement in our B2B guide COMMERCIAL REGISTER is now available under: http://www.comm-reg.com and our new e-mail is now: info@emaildp.com
Yours faithfully.
General Manager
Direct-Publisher S.L.U.
Hi all, I also received the same email below yesterday, and I would agree this must void anything (if it was legal in the first place!!!) I have updated Action fraud with this latest information!!
We wish to inform you that because of commercial reasons, our domain http://www.com-reg.com has changed and your advertisement in our B2B guide COMMERCIAL REGISTER is now available under: http://www.comm-reg.com and our new e-mail is now: info@emaildp.com
Yours faithfully.
General Manager
Direct-Publisher S.L.U.
Hi just had same email and also attachment from their so called legal apartment Juridique department for final payment or go to court they will not get any payment from me and will you go to court as I believe their domain http://www.com-Reg.com was Closed down so this so-called new domain http://www.comm-Reg.com could this make this contract SCAM void ?
Just received this letter from the scammers.
Despite our various reminders, you still have not regularised your payment obligations derived from the contract formalised with DIRECT PUBLISHERS SLU.
If you fail to settle your outstanding account within a final deadline of eight days, we will be forced to forward your case to an international debt agency.
Your company will then have to bear all additional costs generated by their services and those related to any legal a cation brought in court to enforce your obligations.
No name no signature.
Threatening letters received:
11.10.16
07.12.16
04.01.17 – 8 days notice
13.02.17 – term used – within a week
20.02.17
22.03.17
Not once is anyone’s name documented or any signature used in correspondence from them. Even from the outset. But would any of us want to put our name to a scam and face the eventual consequences. I don’t think so.
Just ignoring all correspondence from them. Does anyone else have an update?
Hi Malcolm. Anything since 22.03.17?
I have been caught by the Commercial Register but not paid them any money. I tried to report the fraudulent practice to Action Fraud by phone but they told me to contact trading standards because I had ‘signed’ the form. Is this correct? Should I still go ahead and report it to Action Fraud online? Or contact Trading Standards? I assume that I should just ignore any further correspondence and threats from the outfit! I am a very small business and thought this stuff was official and I cannot recall their printing any small print when I signed to confirm my details.
Hi, we had also signed the form but I have reported to Action Fraud today and now have a reference number. They have advised me to pass on to this forum that we all report it asap. and keep copies of ALL correspondence received. Do not reply though. I had a call from their ‘lawyer’ who got very angry on the phone, so they are now using a different tactic from just sending letters…
Hey Malcolm. I haven’t heard anymore since my reminder letter but no doubt I will. No name or signature is a sure sign that this is a scam. I know these letters can make you feel a bit insecure but advice from action fraud is do not pay a penny and do not contact them. if you have reported this to action fraud you have a crime reference number, so that is your proof and peace of mind you are doing the right thing. Do not let them win. They will give up soon enough. As if they would arrange for debt collector from Spain!!
Yes Stuart your correct, if anyone owes us money I have no problem using my name and signing letters. Your also correct, these threatening letters are not pleasant but that’s all they are threats. We have had a few 7 to 8 days notice to pay from them over the last few months. Now it’s international debt collectors, big deal. The best advice is definitely to ignore all correspondence from these bandits. On a separate and more important note what happened to Bandit chocolate biscuits,? I used to like them!!!!
I received a letter today from their legal department asking me to pay…not happening. It still annoys me every time I get one of these though.
Hi guys – BIG UPDATE!!! Today I received, as expected a second reminder letter chasing payment. Just a standard letter like others on here have reported BUT what was really interesting is this time the envelope post mark was from Zurich, Switzerland!!!! However the address on the letter is still Madrid!!! So after that email many of us received a few weeks ago, stating their domain name had changed ever so slightly, looked like they have been rumbled and have moved on!! But still trying to get money out of people. I have updated action fraud with this information!!!! 🙂 Anyone else noticed this change in post mark?
I’ve just received a letter from the legal department and that has a Swiss post mark.
I will keep ignoring it and see what happens…..Thank you to all on this site as it’s quite worrying to get the letters demanding payment.
Thanks for the update Stuart, I will certainly note where our next scamming letter comes from.
Hi Everyone,
I hadn’t heard from this company for many months, but today have received a letter suggesting we now pay 2 years worth of publication! Anyone else received this?
We have not yet Danielle. We will continue to ignore all correspondence.
I was more concerned no one remembers Bandit biscuits!!!!!!!
That really made me laugh – I remember them Malcolm!!! Its good we can all laugh and joke despite what these scammers are trying to do!!
Cheers Stuart, I’ve stopped worrying about theese scammers long ago. Best advice we ever received was to just totally ignore them.
I have received a letter today from the so called legal department asking for payment of 1986.00 euros. I also received it in an envelope with a Swiss post mark. Again I will be ignoring this
We had a call from “Maria” the lawyer for Direct Publishing. She called to make us a settlement offer to close down any legal proceedings against us. I strongly told her that we all know its a scam and that we have been advised to ignore all contact and make no payments. She got VERY angry and insisted that I should learn to read contracts before signing them because I must be stupid to not have read them! I advised her in no uncertain terms that we will not be making any payment and she is now threatening to take us to court in Spain (at enormous expense to us apparently). I told her that we have contacted Trading Standards and will take no action from our side. Lets wait and see what happens. Just wanted to warn everyone that they are using a different tactic to extort money by threatening phonecalls!!
UPDATE: I have now contacted Action Fraud and reported it. They have advised that we should all report this to enable them to build a case against this Company. We should also keep ALL correspondence as it may be used in any action taken against them, but make no effort to respond to any letters etc.
Their website is http://www.actionfraud.police.uk
Hi have also been scammed and I’ve been following this blog and there was a similar scam in 2010 called European city guide scam which a gentlemen David Baldaro started a blog to warn people of the scam same as Ritchie and for more help you can get European city guide scam on YouTube with comments that might help
Hi All
One of my accountant accidentally signed the agreement. I have just reported this to action fraud. Thanks for the info. Kevin
Hi, I am at the ‘Legal Department’ stage as of 23/05/17, obviously have no intention of paying and will keep you posted on any further letters etc. I am also in the category of believing my signature was scanned to a different form as I am extremely careful when signing any forms due to the nature of my business (financial services).
Welcome to the club, Grant.
Had a letter from the Legal Department making a final settlement offer prior to court proceedings commencing. I cannot believe the cheek of these people, especially as they know I have reported it to Trading Standards and Action Fraud!
Hi,
Just received a letter from their ” legal department”
Der Sirs, Madam,
The contract you have validated with DIRECT PUBLISHER S.L.U. has been forwarded to our department.
To date your situation has not been regularized and in case of non-payment on your behalf, we will have the obligations to tale the necessary legal measures and you will be liable for the costs that this procedure will incur.
We demand that the outstanding amount is paid upon reception of this notice.cf1
Stamp from Switzerland.
I’ll ignore it.
Hi all
yes I too have received my third reminder for payment. I am not being threatened that if I do not pay with one week I will be passed over to their legal department. Again the letter head is Madrid, the post mark Zurich. I have updated Action Freud, who I told about this blog as its been so helpful, and I was told THE MORE OF US THAT REPORT THIS TO THEM, THE MORE THEY CAN DO, SO IF YOU HAVEN’T YET REPORTED COMMERCIAL REGISTER TO ACTION FREUD, DO IT TODAY!!!! 🙂
The thing I find completely incredible is that the authorities seem to be powerless to do anything. What are we paying them for? How many times does a fraud have to be reported before any action is taken? Ridiculous.
They are based in another country, which immediately makes things difficult. They also work on a technicality that you did – in fact – sign it. However, the terms are written on the reverse of the letter which is unfair. For every 9 that don’t pay, I suspect 1 will. You’ve only got to get 10 payments a month and you’ve made yourself €5300. Easy money for the price of sending a few letters.
I also suspect that British authorities have more important issues to deal with.
Its very reassuring to see so many people in the same boat with this so called Company. I’m in the early stages or two or three letters and emails, I think I will ignore everything they send me and see what happens! Good luck everyone.
Just an update on our situation. I reported this to Action Fraud when I received the first reminder. We’ve received 2 further reminders and today a fax from their Legal Department requesting immediate payment. Still not paying them. Action Fraud advised me not to pay them anything or enter into any discussions. I have no idea how they can enforce the apparent debt anyway!
I have received two telephone calls from the so called Maria the lawyer from Spain. I took one of the calls and told her that we had been advised by action fraud not to pay. I put the phone down. She immediately rung back and Mrs Bedford (the proprietor of the business) took the second call and told her in her in no uncertain terms that we were going to pay
Did she leave any contact details of a law firm name?
No she did not. She just told us that we should learn to read contracts etc before we signed and started getting aggresive like she did with the Teri previously.
Hi everyone, well I thought they had gone away. So after receiving my final warning and letter from the legal department in December they stopped. Until today and new letter saying i’m in the second year of my contract and payment has not been made………..if not received they ill take legal action. its in the bin.
Keep the faith they will stop.. One day..
Iain
Has anyone actually been presumed legally???
Hello all,
I have received a letter from the legal department saying I have 8 days to pay or it will go to an international debt recovery agency and costs will be mine to pay etc…..has anyone else had this one?
Hi all, I filled in the the form November 2015 (NORTHERN IRELAND COMMERCIAL REGISTER) and have received invoices etc since January 2016 which I have totally ignored. Maria phoned a couple of days ago and I hung up. Then I received this email 21st June which I am also ignoring. I have blocked out my surname and company name for obvious reasons. Maria if you are reading this – WE WILL NOT PAY.
700278 COMMERCIAL REGISTER copies : front and reverse contract/proof sheet/invoice
Dear Mrs.
The (blocked out by me) ’s file has been passed to our attention due to your failure to emit payment in respect of your outstanding account.
Please note that you are definitely NOT in a position to interrupt the conversation by hanging up the phone and we would strongly advise that you should refrain from such actions in the future with a view to avoiding further costs and complications.
We have been trying to contact you in order to discuss the above mentioned issue
The purpose of my call was to find a mutual beneficial solution to this problem.
Contractual law stipulates that inadvertent orders resulting out of prior negligent examination of commercial offers and agreements are the responsibility of the subscriber and this has been confirmed by jurisprudence. A legally binding signature on a document is an indication that the form has been read and understood and that the signatory wishes to confirm his agreement to the whole content of the document, i.e. to the order conditions as well.
We must remind you that a legally binding contract exists between your Company and Direct Publisher SLU
All contractual details were at your disposal and it is the responsibility of professionals to familiarise themselves thoroughly with a business document before signing it. Should this not have been the case, the Direct Publisher SLU cannot unfortunately assume financial responsibility.
We draw your attention to the fact that the validity of your order contract is for THREE years in the Direct Publisher SLU Your advertisement can be accessed at: http://www.comm-reg.om
Should payment not arrive until 30.06.2017 in the bank account, our mandate would force us to strongly advise you to initiate legal proceedings in the place of jurisdiction that you agreed to, contained in the orders conditions. This procedure will generate additional costs for you such as dunning fees, interests for delay and other juridical costs.
We believe that costly court proceedings are not in your interest and thus count on your cooperation to finally resolve this outstanding issue.
All necessary bank details you find on the invoice attached. After payment please send us a copy of the bank transfer in order to hand it over to cancel the contract immediately.
We anticipate that you will honour your contractual obligations to the Direct Publisher SLU and settle your outstanding account without delay to avoid further complications.
Yours faithfully,
Maria Martín
LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Direct line: 0034-690 010 132
e-mail: m.m@legal-recovery.com
Did the email have a company name or address of the law firm? It’s interesting to see that they domain legal-recovery.com has domain privacy set up so it’s impossible to see who owns it. Why would a genuine law form hide its ID online? Same tactic that the Scammers used until their domain was recently moved.
Hi Ritchie, no the email did not have a company name or address. It came from m.m@legal-recovery.com. It will be interesting to see what she does next.
I have received exactly the same this morning as Kim above but in a letter not an email.
Tracy – did the letter have any address or company name on it? If so, could you tell me what?
It had Legal Department in the top left corner but the same address as all other letters from them
My first letter from England Commercial Register was dated 22 November 2016.
I had a Legal department letter 06/06/2017. info@emaildp.com
I replied to an e-mail on 17/02/17 to say “SCAM – reported it to Action Fraud UK & Police.”
Customer service department Carmen Torres drp134-1@com-reg.com
I am keeping a copy of all letters & thanks to this website…will not be paying!
Hi All
I too have received a letter from there so called legal department this weekend. Again though the post mark was Zurich, the letter head says Madrid? Just threatening me with taking legal measures upon this notices of cf1? No name, no signature nothing!!!
What we all in knowingly signed would never hold up in a court, we didn’t know this was going to be advertising in a another country for a start, let a long a chargeable advert? We all just thought we were updating information for free. Keep updating action fraud and keep all your paper work received!!! And DO NOT PAY!!!
Found this info on another forum similar to this one, but not as informative re details of commercial register and thought I would share!
Summary of Commercial Register
Being a Digital firm we thought it would be interesting to take a slightly deeper look at their website to see if it threw up any clues. Here’s what we found.
•Their domain is registered with GoDaddy
•Their IP address is 2.139.237.19 and is in Barcelona, Spain.
•There are only six domains on that server, com-reg.com, com-reg.org, direct-publisher.com, regitaliano.com, com-reduved.org and regitalia.com
•They have very few backlinks and nothing from any reputable website.
•Their domain name ownership is hidden under private registration
•If you do visit their home page you will see some adverts for companies that have clearly been caught by this scam already.
Hi we have exactly the same situation with this company…i have explained to them that absolutely not would we have agreed to advertise on there site.. for a start we only deal with the trade…there response was horrendous on both occasions they use bullying tactics & as we have, everyone must report them to Action Fraud as they are building a case against this company & are taking all our complaints on board & have told us under no circumstances to pay a penny & ignore all correspondence …these people could cause some individuals serious stress & worry, they are criminals & need closing down asap..our case is in the hands of our lawyers but most companies especially small concerns do not have the resources to employ lawyers….so please anyone in the same boat report this asap before they cause someone more serious health issues from the stress they can cause…My name is Clare Farnell my husband is a leading lawyer in the UK & he has advised also do not pay..if anything I may take legal action against them for fraudulently altering a form & harassment.
Everyone,
See link for update from Richie Hicks re Com-Reg having been closed down. Apologies if everyone knows this but I received this today and its dated May, yet people are still posting on here in July so…. just in case…
http://gloopa.co.uk/com-reg-com-closed-down/
We have received yet another letter today asking us to pay within 8 days otherwise they will forward the case to an international debt recovery agency….blaa blaa blaa!! I have a case opened with Action Fraud and will be following their advice not to pay these people.
Hi
I have not heard anything from the bandits since I in the start of april (this year). at that time I
send them an e-mail, telling them that I knew that they were criminals, that I had no intention to pay and that I had contacted the danish police.
The police told me not to pay, in their opinion they would never take legal action.
But no matter what happens in the future , I will not answer neither letters nor e-mails nor phone- calls.
Again thanks alot for this page, without you , i would never have found the courage.
Ulla
Hi all,
Firstly thank you to Clare Farnell for your comment, it is very reassuring to hear your husband who is a leading lawyer has also advised not to pay a penny to these scammers.
To Appaloosa – I didn’t see that the website has been closed down, but just to add, on m y letter received this week, a chaser from their so called legal department top pay within the next eight days, their website stated at the top – http://www.comm-reg.com does not come up as recognised on the web!!! So it appears the slightly changed web address (from http://www.com-reg.com) has also been closed down! FINALLY!!!!!
Keep reporting it to action fraud!
And thanks for your latest email Richie 🙂
Hi. Exactly the same scam in france. Now from two years we receive invoice to paid. … Regards. Marie
I received a letter today that is basically the same, I am however in Canada; the letter was marked Commercial Registration Canada and the return address was to Direct Publisher in France. They are getting very clever this document actually looked legit. I have received so many scam emails and letters that I read everything very carefully; in small print is shows I would owe them $1,479 CAD. I am the only one in my office that handles the mail, I do not allow anyone else to do this I think they are counting on the office reception to handle these things and just fill out and send.
Also in Canada here and received this letter…very official looking and had the same amount as the above Canadian. These guys are tricky…glad I read over the fine print and decided to look into this. Thanks for all the info. Won’t even be contacting them about it.
I’ve received letters for the past year and also received a phone call from Maria. She threatened I’d have to travel to Madrid to attend court at my cost! I asked if she could arrange for the date to coincide with a Real Madrid home game, as I haven’t been for a couple of years…. she got nasty. The call was followed by an email, then nothing for several months. The cycle has just started again with the debt recovery letters. Obviously Ignored !!!
So, they’re still going at it then. I love your response to her – stupid woman!
thats hilarious! We also phoned the so called Maria, she got very nasty and aggresive. Me thinks maybe not the actions of a solicitor!
Hi, I first left a comment on Ritchie’s blog some 18 months ago when I got caught. Having not heard anything for months I have received a phone call from Maria (Ella King in disguise?) and this morning have had a threatening e mail regarding going to court. Like Jason I might ask to coincide it with a shopping trip . If I hear any more I will update.
Hi Nina. Good to hear from you. Shame it’s in such annoying circumstances. These people really are aggravating!
If they’re so confident, why are they spending so long to take people to court? Threat after threat, but never do they follow up on it.
Just this morning received a letter form comm reg stamped with ‘Legal department’ and threatening international debt recovery if not paid within 8 days. My supposed bill is 1986.00 euros as it’s into the second year of the supposed 3 year contract!! Has anyone else got this far or further? Still planning on ignoring it.
We have just received the same letter today 2nd Nov 2017
I thought it was all over but I guess not
they can go F*** off
Seems to me a lot of threatening letters have been sent out to reach victims of the scam by today the 02nd November 2017.
I suppose from their point of view, even if say, one victim paid them out of 1,000 victims it would be a result for them, after all they have very little overheads.
A member of my staff received a call from a Spanish Lady (use that term loosely) insisting she speak to me recently, she was very abrupt and insistent and very rude. She told us there was court proceeding unless we paid the sum of 1986.00Euro immediately. We then received an email stating court proceeding had been applied against us, they included copies of the original form we completed and a supposed ‘contract’.
My solicitor has confirmed this is indeed a scam, I intend of course to ignore this.
Our first communications started in April 2016, to be honest its just boring now!!!
Your absolutely correct Jill it is totally boring!
Have you had any further contact? I have had two phone calls in the last two weeks and also copies of the original documents and saying about legal proceedings? just wondered how you have got on since?
They phoned today and said that i have to pay or i will be taken to court.
sorry Maria called today….
Has anything happened since as I had a telephone call today for the first time as well and this has been going on since 2016!
My first letter said England Commercial Register…….. OK, they are in Spain.
In order to avoid the removal of your company details…. what were my details doing with them, i didn’t know anything about it, Has anyone looked at Data Protection Law…
Just an update to say I’ve heard nothing since the 23rd May legal threat – hopefully they have given up on me but wouldn’t be surprised to hear from them again!!
We have today received a straight forward reminder from the Scammers or as I call them The windy wanky gang. First one in months. Post mark was Switzerland. I’ve lost count of how many threatening letters we have had off them over the last 18 months. I must say it was rather refreshing to receive a polite reminder instead of the normal PAY WITHIN 8 DAYS threat we normally used to receive. This alone proves there is no continuity with their legal threats.
If they want to waste postage, I can live with receiving a totally worthless threat a few times a year, after all it’s no worse than the nuisance calls we receive on a regular basis. Always remember DO NOT REPLY that is what they want and do not pay 1 penny.
Same here Malcolm. A very polite reminder that the monies are now due, reminding me also how detailed my entry on their site can be.. Strangely, they appear to have had lessons in written English as there are no errors in this letter and it is correct grammatically – unlike previous ones. They also appear to have forgotten they were threatening me with court proceedings as nothing about it is mentioned therein and their reminder appears to be starting again from scratch. Don’t they get tired of it all?
We had yet another threatening letter, to be honest in the office we don’t even bother to discuss the issue anymore. We are now into the second year, it’s a clever ploy though, as they realise some small companies will be worried about running up a bogus debt of €3,000 by the 3rd year.
Just to reiterate over and over again the very best advice we were even given was to just totally ignore all correspondence and any threatening phone calls, after all there is not one case ever ended up in court to date. All they can do is fire bullets from afar – so what.
I would be more concerned if Thomas Shelvey were after me!!!
My only comment to add would be that I think contacting Action Fraud is a total waste of time – a more accurate description would be ‘Lack of Action Fraud’ – seriously what have they actually done in the face of all these reports??!! We have had to create our own forum to allay our fears and head these con artists off – what assistance or intervention has there been from Action Fraud?? Very disillusioned that this scam is still out there and that less resilient innocent people are no doubt paying them to perpetrate it, despite multiple reports to Action Fraud
just received the 2nd reminder which now includes a 2nd year. Not a chance my illegal friend.. If your that confident go head an sue instead of all these threats
I today have received a letter dated 11th January 2018 enclosing another invoice for the total of 2979 euros. The usual stuff stated about paying before legal actions are taken. I will be ignoring this one too
Hi all, received a letter with first and second years’s fees due so came on here to check we are all advised to ignore, even though the legal threats continue. Thank for still being here!!!
On another matter, is anyone else seeing everyone’s emails on this page in one massive paragraph? Its so hard to follow what each reply says but just to check I’m not the only one with a messed up display of this collection of replies / letting someone know! Regards
Appaloosa – I received this same letter today (20th February 2018).
Hi Folks,
Quick update…..hadn’t received anything from this lot for months and months and then today a letter arrived requesting payment for last years invoice and this years invoice – EUR 1.986.00. It seems they are now suggesting the “contract” is for two years! I’ll be updating my report to Action Fraud later today. Has anyone else received this one?
Melanie
yes
Yes today 22-02-18
We receive a threatening letter about every 8 weeks or so demanding payment within 8 days . (Don’t know why it’s 8 days, must be a connection to the Beatles song Eight Days a Week) Been receiving these demanding letters for around 2 years now. We just totally ignore them. Best advice we were ever given. Thank you Richie Hicks !!
We receive a threatening letter about every 8 weeks or so demanding payment within 8 days . (Don’t know why it’s 8 days, must be a connection to the Beatles song Eight Days a Week) Been receiving these demanding letters for around 2 years now. We just totally ignore them. Thank you Richie Hicks !!
I commented back in 2016 with the same issue as I sent back the letter and have steadily received letters regarding payments since. However last week i got an email from a Laura Rodriguez saying she was from the legal department and also a telephone call asking a solicitor to contact them after I said i would not deal with them. Has anyone else had this?
Hi Kerry, I have literally just put the phone down from our solicitors (top company in London) they have advised DO NOT RESPOND OR ANSWER ANY OF THEIR CORRESPONDENCE.
So good to read all these comments, I have been worried sick!
I have been receiving threatning “Legal” letters from a so called Spanish solicitor called MS LAURA RODRIGUEZ tel 0034690010132. threating to now take us to court for not paying. I am just totally ignoring everything!
hi, just wanted to know if there where any updates to this as I am now getting calls from he aswell
She has just rang me again today. I contacted fraud last week but should i get a solicitor to contact her or leave it. I have told our staff in the company not to take any calls but is there any legal thing that says we will have to pay it. Most reputable companies wouldnt wait 2 years to take action for a company not paying a bill so I cant see this?
I have been getting letters since February 2017 about this, it all went quiet for a long time, and now recently they are writing to me again saying I owe for last year and another years subscription? Funny how their website doesn’t even exist anymore!!! Just continue to ignore. I wont be paying a penny. Disappointed as well with Action Fraud as this has gone on for so long now and there is so much awareness about it, how can they not step in or at least publicise something about it?
Regular threatening letters but no phone calls so far – agree the comments about Action Fraud – what have they done???
I too have been receiving the same demands each month and now with a threat to forward my case to international debt recovery. Its reassuring that I am not alone and will continue to ignore them.
Still getting the letters and email, in fact more frequently as they seem to be getting more desperate and just now even a phone call from some Spanish sounding woman, no doubt ‘Ella King’! I am really disappointed Action Fraud havent got a grip on this with the rest of Europe it really stinks.
Appears to have gone a bit quiet now? Maybe they have finally been shut down?
Really do hope so Grant.
Hello, sorry for my bad english
I am in France and here too we are scammed by this company, I am at the negotiation, they offer me to pay only the first year € 935 and I do not know what to do? pay to be quiet or complain. Tell me if anyone had to come to court?
Update…. just recieved an official looking letter from The Legal department asking for payment. Hadn’t heard anything for nearly a year. They are now offering me a discount and to pay only 844 euros if i pay in the next 5 days!
Looking at the copy of the contract i signed. I had in fact dated it 15/4/1980 by mistake! They say i didnt act within the cooling off period. So how on earth could they know what the cooling off period was if i signed it 38 years ago!!
Really need to know if anyone has actually been subjected to court or an international debt retrieval. Anyone……???
HI Steve
I have today had a phone call from a foreign gentleman saying that he was a solicitor from Credit Collection Factoring SRO – I’ve googled them and they’re a legit company – I have told him that I will not be paying as it is a scam …. bit worried now as no one else seems to have had this conversation. Will be interested to see if anyone else has received this phone call??
No. Nobody!
Hi… yes I too was scammed in 2016 and haven’t paid a thing … today had a foreign gentleman phone from Credit Collection Factoring SRO stating that he was a solicitor and was acting on their behalf … has anyone else had this – what to do???
I phoned them today. Here’s the call recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fLBTr6Pgy8
We were also taken in by this scam a couple of years ago. Yesterday we received a email from a Andrew Smyth a legal adviser based in Prague tell us to pay almost 300 euros into a bank account based in Prague. Starting to get a bit worrying now.
Don’t pay a penny!
[…] scam has many different faces, the main one being the Commercial Register scam. The fraud is pretty much identical in every way. It starts with a letter which asks you to update […]
[…] seems that someone has caught up with the people behind the Commercial Register Scam and com-reg.com has been closed […]
[…] written in the past how the Commercial Register Scam has been used to extort money from UK business owners, and now the same company have widened their […]
UPDATE.
Ok so now my three years ‘contract’ is up. After numerous threatening letters, offers of a discount etc… etc i have just recieved a cheeky letter to renew my contract on the grounds i pay off my debt, but it also reads as though they are renewing it anyway!!! A little incentive of a 5% discount is also added. If i dont pay then….. back to square one, legal letters, threats and so on. I have sent a polite but abrupt email stating that under no circumstances are they to add my business to the register again. I await a reply…. probably from Ms King again!
Touch wood as of yet i have had no calls from any external debt retrieval companies. I shall keep you informed.
Like many on this blog my husband was taken in by this scam thinking it was a letter from company’s house and definitely no mention of payment. We phoned and emailed telling them we didn’t want to be on there website and we wouldn’t be sending any payment. On the day we received a letter from their so called legal department we happened to have a visit from our local trading standards officer, we showed him the letter and he said he would look into it for us and get back to us. He phoned us a few days later and told us this was definitely a scam and to ignore any further communication and not to pay them any money. We haven’t heard from them for about 6 months but yesterday we received a email from a Andrew Smith who is a legal advisor based in Prague telling us we now owe almost 3000 euros and to pay into a bank account in Prague. Just wondering if anyone else has received this email and if this is going to go any further as it’s starting to get a bit worrying now.
Ignore them. Don’t respond to emails. Don’t speak on the phone. It’s a scam.
These people operate parallel scams. Here’s the gist of a similar demand taken from an email received by a company of which I am a director;
” Credit Collection Factoring s.r.o. (CCF) have been instructed and duly authorized by our client TVV Tele Verzeichnis Verlag GmbH to act on its behalf in respect to the collection of your overdue commercial debt, relating to the provisions by our client of advertising services on http://www.uk-corporate-portal.com“.
They accompany the demand with quasi-legal documents. All very official looking but essentially meaningless in the absence of a legitimate claim.
I also happen to be a solicitor so I was not concerned and have told them to “go away” (!) It’s easy for me as I’m used to such situations but it’s a pity the UK authorities can’t stop them as I can see from your site that they cause misery to decent people.
i support your advice to simply ignore them.
Thanks Harvey.
Have today received another email from the solicitors based in Prague telling us they are now going to start court proceedings in Madrid. Really hoping this isn’t going to go any further.
Hi Tina you need to watch Ritchie on YouTube when he told then to take him to court and they will not and I would go to court against this scum anyway so keep being brave and if you did go court am sure you have backing of thousands of people in this country and worldwide backing you what have been scammed
Just about had enough of this company sending me letters demanding that I pay them my hard earned money, just over the past two weeks I have had emails demanding money , now I am getting phone calls from them , it’s driving me round the bend , but the one thing that I don’t do is respond too any of it , hoping that it will stop soon is there anything else that I can do too stop this .
April 17th 2019
Today I received an email advising that the legal office mentioned below was threatening legal action for non payment of this commercial register invoice. They included a copy of the form that I signed and returned, thinking it was a listing of a service. No mention of the cost involved otherwise we would not have sent it back. I will continue to ignore their demands.
Legal Office
Contact: Ms Laura Rodriguez
Tel.: 0034 690010132
Email: L.R@legal-recovery.com
We too have now received what sounds like the same letter apparently from their legal department and a woman called Laura Rodriguez.
Laura if you read this – WE WILL CONTINUE TO IGNORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aside from com-reg.com / comm-reg.com, they also operate a site called fairs-business.com. This site is apparently an advertising site for companies that attend various Fairs/exhibitions.
Our company, PRA World Limited, received a form, the same one as is sent under the commercial register letter, from this company and it looked like it was from event organisers. It looked like they were trying to “confirm” our company details. By the time you receive the invoice the “cooling off period” of 15 days has already elapsed making it impossible to cancel the contract by their terms. Be advised, this is unenforceable in an european courts as the terms are unfair and give undue bias to the service provider.
One other thing of note: They are fond of sending you pdf copies of the form that was signed showing small print at the foot of the page making clear you were entering into a contract for a fee. However, I do not recall seeing small print at the bottom when I signed the form. Others have said they believe this “company” is scanning the signature and transferring it onto another form with that text added. I too feel this could be happening but I don’t have a copy of the original form so I cannot prove it. I would be interested in seeing evidence of this if anybody happens to come across this blog BEFORE sending the form back.
This echos my thoughts.
We haven’t heard anything from this crowd of bullies for a while now however in the last two weeks I have had two emails and now this morning a letter from “Legal Department”. I have listened to your telephone recording which was really helpful. I would also be interested to see the original form I signed to check if it matches or not.
I’m just wondering…..has anyone contacted BBC Watchdog about this company? Would it a story they would be interested in?
Hi Melanie
I would love this to go to BBC Watchdog and would definitely help with information. I have kept everything.
And after not hearing anything for nearly a year, last week I get an email and a voicemail on my work mobile saying I am now in my 3rd year or subscription and they are again chasing for payment. However in a desperate attempt to get some money out of me they have offered as a ‘goodwill gesture’ to only charge me £863 + VAT for the last years cost? AS IF!!!!!
I have deleted the message and blocked their number and wont reply to the email, but I expect to hear from them again within the next few weeks.
I am disappointed with how little Action Fraud have actually done, or should say have not done. Its all well and good everyone reporting it to them but where does it go from there? How can these criminals still be operating after so many years? Sadly some must be falling for the scam otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing it.
This has to stop.
So they seem to be on one at the moment with me – today received another letter apparently from a legal company now saying that as I haven’t paid the offered lower amount, their good will gesture, they now want full payment – what a surprise!!!
I will continue to file this away with the rest and ignore.
Anyone else receiving these letters at the moment?
Morning, so we got caught out by this scam back in 2017. Ignored all previous threats but we have now had the legal letter and email from Laura Rodriguez. Our company name is incorrect on the original form so always felt this was our way out so to speak. We also registered this with Action Fraud. Should I respond to Laura stating these points or shall we continue to ignore? Appreciate any advice.
Personally, I wouldn’t waste your time on any communication with them. as far as I am aware they have not actually taken a single person to court. I echo the previous comments about action Fraud though, typical government lead organisation with no urgency and no communication. Waste of time.
January 22nd 2020
We just received phone call from Miss Laura or Nora (she had very strong accent so i didn’t fully understand) saying we owe money for adverts. As my boss wasn’t in the office she left phone number (0034690010132) and said my boss have to contact hers ASAP or she will have to take legal actions against our company.
Because she had such strong Spanish accent I couldn’t get the email address ( my self not native english speaker),so i decided to look on line for that company and i find this article.
Will be sending link to my boss.
Hi all,
a simpleton from our company signed and returned the form probably a year ago ( Jan 19) . Now we are receiving threats etc Feb 20. I have checked their VAT number, comes up as not valid and their company is shown as in bankruptcy on another company checker website. Their company number does not appear on correspondence, I searched on the company name and it came up with details as per their invoice etc.
Conclusion – the company director is guilty of trading whilst bankrupt, I believe a criminal offence in the UK.
https://www.infoempresa.com/en-in/es/company/direct-publisher-sl
No, invalid VAT number for cross border transactions within the EU (please refer to FAQ, questions 7, 11, 12, 13 and 20 for more information).
The owner of the VAT number may contact the competent authorities for correction or clarification:
https://www.agenciatributaria.gob.es/AEAT.sede/tramitacion/ZZ09.shtml
Member State ES
VAT Number ES b87371464
Hi all, just been reading all the comments above & I also have been scammed by this company & have had numerous threatening letters from Direct Publisher which I have clearly ignored. In the last few weeks I am now receiving emails & phone calls from a debit company in Cyprus, C.C solutions. Demanding payment & threatening with legal/court action. Have they got a leg to stand on? And surely they would have to get a court action from the uk?
Has anyone else been receiving calls/emails from this company?
Hi Richard – just ignore them. They’ll eventually give up. They could start legal action from Cyprus but they won’t.
I know they read this blog and I know they hate me.
I called them once – they backed down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fLBTr6Pgy8
Hi Ritchie. Thankyou for the reassurance. I have been ignoring them but this is a new angle. Do you know of anyone who’s been contacted from this Cyprus company? How can you be so positive this company won’t start legal action? I’m tempted to contact a uk solicitor again but I know what the costs involved are. I’ve checked this uk reg.com website and my company is on there! Is this the same for yourself & how do I get this removed?
Keith heather@keithssports.co.uk
Yes we are getting them from the same company feel free to contact me to compare info or any one else who has been contacted
Skeith
Dxkeithkeithã
Keith
Hi Richard
We have also had emails from Cyprus based CC Solutions after around 2 plus years of no communication, it appears to be a new angle.
Hi Ritchie
We have also had emails from Cyprus based CC Solutions after around 2 plus years of no communication, it appears to be a new angle.
I have been having the same. Today’s email said they will take me to court after I forwarded action fraud crime reference numbers. Obviously I’m not going to pay. They offered to half the money I need to pay in the previous email. This company should be stopped! I think they’ll be thinking all those business must be rolling in it after the government grant and they are just trying their luck again!
I had the same back in 2016 and they’ve just started emailing me again! Be prepared for more comments as I’m sure I’m not the only one.
would you believe it after 18 months
they’ve started again
told them to F*** Off
Hi Ritchie
We have also had emails from Cyprus based CC Solutions after around 2 plus years of no communication, it appears to be a new angle.
They also have the apostille showing the acquisition of the debt which was signed by
Sigfrido Garcia Arnal who is managing director dated 30 de Julio de 2020
I thought the stopped trading last year.