The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Watch out for the bogus invoice man

Summertime and the scammin' is easy

Free whitepaper – PowerEdge M610 technical guidebook

UK businesses are being warned to be on their guard against bogus invoices for Internet-related services as fraudsters target understaffed firms during the summer.

According to the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), rogue traders take advantage of senior staff taking leave in the summer to trick more-junior employees into paying what looks like an urgent invoice. In many cases, by paying these invoices, the company actually signs up to a contract which forces it to continue paying for years.

Most of these so-called invoices are subscriptions to print or Internet business directories. Many of the fraudsters identified by the EASA originate in Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Robert Hilty, head of EASA's taskforce tackling rogue traders, said: "Over the last ten years we have noticed a marked increase in fraudulent direct mailings over the summer months. We want to put a stop to this kind of activity and to ensure that from now on those behind it don't profit from it. It is vital that SMEs across Europe are aware of these scams and know how to deal with them."

Firms are advised to watch out for dodgy invoices and to check each one carefully - especially if they're from overseas or from an unknown supplier. ®

Related stories

Online ads draw record complaints
ASA slaps Nodots scam
ASA raps UK Internet Registry

Free whitepaper – Rack mount solutions

Don’t Miss

DustbinDirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide

Ventblockers Horror beyond human imagination

SC09Top 500 supers - rise of the Linux quad-cores

SC09 Jaguar munches Roadrunner

Ubuntu teaser Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala

Smooth Windows upgrade it ain't

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes