Yellow Pages Scam

This is a growing problem. Consumers should be aware that the "Walking Fingers" logo is not copyright protected and may be used by anyone. If a consumer receives any notice regarding yellow pages advertising they should contact their last known sales rep before paying any invoice or cashing any check! If anyone has any doubts about such invoices they may post a question with a description of the bill on our YellowPagesBlog. (info) blogsite and get feedback from the professional yellow pages community.

Hello,
I was the sales & marketing manager for Yellow Pages Inc and let go yesterday. I want to help anybody and everybody in this matter, I was wronged by Yellow Pages Inc and feel that something needs to be done. This is America, I gave up another career and time for this company and out of nowhere John Wurth, President walks into my office and say's " We are laying you off and drops a half paid salary on my desk and walks out...HELP!
Lonnie
airfive@sbcglobal.net

TITLE: Local Internet Marketing Firm, California | Search Engine
Marketing for Small Local Business, California

Desc: Local Internet Marketing at its best for the development of
marketing and advertising small business online.

Local Business Search Directories Marketing Firm, California- LocalClick.Com provides local business listings, including addresses, phone numbers, and other details for California.

TITLE : Local Website Creation California | Website Development for Small Business

Desc : Local Website Creation; California - LocalClick.Com provides website creation & development services for local and small businesses.

Key Words : Local Website Creation, Website Creation, Local web Advertising, Local Advertising, Local, Market, Small Business

Vitamin at N101. Your source for supplement, nutritional supplements, protein bar and body building supplement.

title: Calcium Gluconate, Pharmaceutical Chemicals Delhi, Calcium Gluconate Dealer

Description: Calcium Care is a leader in the field of specialty chemicals and sustainable growth springing from its own innovative strength.

Keywords: calcium gluconate, pharmaceutical chemicals, calcium gluconate i.p, clacium gluconate b.p, calcium gluconate dealer, calcium gluconate agent, calcium gluconate supplier, calcium gluconate distributor, calcium gluconate stockist, calcium gluconate manufacturer, calcium gluconate trader, calcium gluconate dealer in delhi, calcium gluconate agent in delhi, calcium gluconate supplier in delhi, calcium gluconate distributor in delhi, calcium gluconate stockist in delhi, calcium gluconate manufacturer in delhi, calcium gluconate trader in delhi.

Digital Photo Printing Service - Printroom.Com - provides Digital Photography & Imaging Services For Professional Photographers for high quality prints from digital images on real photo paper, offers free online albums / galleries and membership at low print prices and volume discounts for professional photographers.

pls i wanna know how to use scam pages i have lots of scam pages but i dont know how to use them an link it to my email box pls any one should help me my email adress is okon_gloryland@yahoo.com

I am in the process of dealing with a yellow pages company which has tried to scam my organization into paying for a listing. Please see the details of my experience at my blog www.katybowman.blogspot.com. I really want to get the word out about this company and do what I can to stop them from trying this on other people.

Business Owners,
Some of my valued customers have been victims to Yellow Pages Scams. Here are some things to look for & ways to protect yourself..

Characteristics of a Phony Yellow Pages Invoice

The solicitation from an alternative business directory may have the appearance of an invoice. It may bear the "walking fingers" logo and feature the name "Yellow Pages." It also may falsely suggest that the publisher is affiliated with your local telephone company or with another bona fide Yellow Pages publisher you recognize. Further, the solicitation may lead you to believe that your business already has been listed in the telephone directory and you are now being billed when, in fact, you are only being solicited for placing an ad.

Typical language used on the ad solicitations, such as "present listing information;" "prompt payment is necessary to guarantee ad placement in the directory;" "renewal payment stub;" and "directory listing renewal invoice" also may appear on Yellow Pages invoices. This adds to the confusion.

How To Protect Yourself

Examine the piece of mail you have received and determine whether it is a solicitation or an invoice. If it is a solicitation, you should see a disclaimer required by the U.S. Postal Service. It states, THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER. But whether you see this solicitation disclaimer or not, be wary.

Consider taking the following additional precautions:

l Investigate the company and its product before responding.

l Ask for a copy of a previous directory edition.

l Ask the publisher for written information about its directories. Ask for distribution figures, the method of distribution, and the directory's life span.

l Ask where the directories are distributed and whether they go to all local telephone customers.

l Ask if directories are available free. If there is a fee, ask for the cost.

l Call your local Yellow Pages publisher to learn if it is associated with the company soliciting your business. If more than one Yellow Pages publisher distributes directories in your area, call the publishers whose books you are considering for your ad; ask if they are associated with the company that sent you the solicitation.

l Check with consumer protection officials in your state and in the state where the company is located to learn if they have received any complaints about the publisher. Keep in mind, however, that suspect companies often leave before complaints are registered or before local authorities have a chance to act. Just because your local consumer protection agency has no complaints on file against a company, that does not mean the business is legitimate.

What To Do if You Are a Victim

If you believe you have been the victim of this misrepresentation scheme, contact the U.S. Postal Inspector office as directed above.

You also may direct questions about Yellow Pages directory publishers to the Yellow Pages Publishers Association (YPPA), a private trade association representing over 140 Yellow Pages publishers throughout the United States. Write: Yellow Pages Publishers Association, 340 E. Big Beaver Road, 5th Floor, Troy, MI 48083.

For More Information

To learn how to protect yourself from other fraudulent sales practices that may affect your business, send for the free brochure, Buying by Phone. Write: Public Reference, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580. You also may write to this address for a free copy of Best Sellers, which lists all the FTC's consumer and business publications.

Below is my email that I have sent to the Better Business Bureau, hoping we can recoup the money. I just know this was a scam:

To Whom It May Concern:

I have a serious issue with your company. Yesterday I received a rude phone call from a representative named Gordie (phone: 866-270-6697 ext 601) demanding payment on an invoice. I asked him what he was referring to and he said that he was calling from National Yellow Pages. He needed a fax number and would fax the invoice. I told him that I had never received any invoice from National Yellow Pages and I didn't know what he was referring to.

After a long sigh, he said that I had purchased an ad in National Yellow Pages and it had been running since 02-14-08. I asked him if this was a joke. He became quite angry and said No, it was not a joke. So I told him to fax a copy of the invoice to 540-785-9772 and to put a number of someone higher than him on there as I would need to get this straightened out.

I did receive the invoice via fax, with of course no number to contact any superior.

I remembered speaking with National Yellow Pages and found my notes from 02-14-08 when I spoke with a Valerie at National Yellow Pages and then a Shannon. On my note, I have Shannon's phone number ( 866-270-6697) and I have where he works in Quality Control. When I had orignally spoken to Valerie (the one who made the cold phone call), she quoted me a price of $389.00 for a national listing ad and told me that she would mail out information for us to review prior to this purchase (after I asked her for information to review-it was not originally offered). I had already told her that we only have ONE location and we are local, so we didn't need to be included in the National Listing. However, she continued to talk to me about putting our business in the listing - so because she had told me that I could review documents prior to purchasing, I was ok with everything.

She then transferred me to Shannon in Quality Control. He talked about the listing and gave me a reference number. I did not authorize a purchase, though I did tell both Shannon & Valerie that I was authorized to make purchases for this business.

Today Gordie called back - he spoke with the owner of Premier Physical Therapy-Yvette Slezak. He played back the recording of my conversation with Shannon. During the recording, Shannon's explanation of the fact that I was in fact authorizing a purchase was crystal clear the first time, which right off makes me truly believe that this tape has been tampered with. Because right after he says that, you hear me ask him to repeat himself. This is because I could not understand a word he said - he was WAY to quiet. He does repeat himself and I say yes. This I will admit to as it is the truth. However, I feel completely and udderly scammed. Because I was told that I would be able to review this information PRIOR to purchasing it. And I was lied to.

Interesting how the only recorded conversation is the one between myself & Shannon - but there is no record for when Valerie tells me, after I asked her, that she will send out documents to review before I have to make any decisions.

I checked the mail for weeks, and because I never received anything, I figured that the initial call was a scam and nothing would happen.

I am so disturbed by the whole ordeal, I don't know what to do. When I try to even look National Yellow Pages Online up on the internet, nothing even shows.

How can I trust this?

The owner has since paid for this listing.

I think this is absurd. I know how businesses run. And when something like this happens, you write it off. Therefore, I am asking for a refund in full and I am contacting the Better Business Bureau. Something needs to be done to people who think that they can make cold phone calls and charge people's accounts.

My wife fran has the same problem as Jenny Park with nat.yellow pages online. I had abusive phone calls and down right harrasment. I just received a bill in the mail today 06-06-08, wanting over 600.00 from nov. of last yr. That's the first mail I have received from them.This group is out of Russell,Il.

Hey Bill ~ Let me know if you were able to do anything about it? I'm still so irritated that they got away with what they did. They shouldn't be allowed to remain in business. I did complain to the Better Business Bureau and after I put up a fight, I still lost. They directed me to small claims court.

just wanted to comment to you all. For those of you who lost money, i hate it for you. You probably wont get any back. for those who are receiving invoices, you can do one of two things. You can ignore them or you can just do everything in your power to piss them off. I made one guy so mad that he was literally screaming at me. You dont have to pay a dime. They will stop calling eventually.

Oh My Gosh!! Jenny Park's is the exact same story as we have with my business.
My business associate told "Richard" that she was not interested and needed to talk to her business partner, me.

After getting the invoice and looking up the useless listing we called back and got receptionist who directed us to "Richard" again who then sent us to the legal department, who had the same "tape" of the conversation that Jenny described.

To date I have spoken to only 2 different people. They both claimed that hey would call us back. Left 5 different messages, faxed that they are a scam organization. Asked to speak to thier legal department, got Voice mail.

7/22/2008
Spoke to a JOHN DANIELS in the legal Department. He played back the recording of my partner speking to Quality Control "Shane". Many skips and 2x my partner indicated that she was not authorizing a charge nor was she going to authorize a invoice payment until she saw what she was getting and spoke to me.
JOHN Daniels indicated that he would cancel the listing, zero out the charge and never call back again.

I reccomend that whenever you are getting a call from a company such as this, ALWAYS verify and speak loudly your intentions to the "Quality Control" representative. Never use the phrase YES or I am in a position of authority.

BUYERS BEWARE!!!!

SCAM ORGANIZATION!!!

The best thing to do is send letters of compliant to various Attorney's General in the home state of the company and your home state and also to the Postmaster General, the DMA (Direct Marketing Association), the FTC and the FCC (just to cover your bases).

I recently got a call from the collection agency of Goam Media from Beth Porter @ 1-888-401-3843 x 2457. She stated that my employee stated that she was authorizing an agreement to be billed for services in their yellow pages $489). Of course they let me listen to the verification of the order, but it was so tampered with. My employee would have never answered "yes" to the fact the she was authorized to make this transaction and she did not. What I wanted to hear was the original phone conversation, which of course was not taped. After hearing everything that Ms. Porter had to say about the FCC, the FTC, the FTD the CIA and anything else she could rattle off in 5 minutes with her intimidation tactics. I told her I wasn't paying a dime and hung up. I then called back and asked to hear the rest of the conversation, as I said before they did not have it. But she did give me their complaint address:

GOAM Media
2520 SW 22nd St.
Unit 2-354
Miami, FL 33145

and said that when I had my lawyer directly call her that she could connect him to Mark Lewis in their legal department.

She said she'd file a formal complaint for me and gave me a number and also her employee number (whatever that does??) Let them rot. I don't care how many times I have to hang up on them!!!

We will form a formal complaint to the FCC, BBB and my lawyer.

Hey,
I just posted a comment about GoAm today. I sent letters to the BBB, my Attorney General in Illinois and the state of Florida, and also to the FTC. Check out the BBB website info of this company and the complaints they've had and their F rating. Please send your complaints in. This cannot go on!!!!

http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=92005394

jj in chitown

The exact same thing happened to my company. I don't know how these people sleep at night. The nerve to be attacking small business like this!
We have been dealing with them for several months now. It has gotten to the point where it is almost humorous. They call to yell and threaten us with there claims and tell us that we may as well pay it because the amount with just build in collections. We tell them they can call all they want, we are not paying it. We have even received calls from their phony in house "Collections Department". Again, we always tell them they can call all they want, we are not paying for something where services were never rendered. They don't have a leg to stand on legally. A tampered with recording of a verbal yes means nothing. Aside from the fact that they couldn't afford to take everyone to small claims over $400.
My advise -
DO NOT PAY!!! No matter how much they hassle you. They will give up eventually.

Hey Justin -

I'm so sorry to hear that not only did this happen to you, but you had to deal with the same jokers I did.

Just know - and this is for everyone - that this company will eventually be shut down. I have faith in this. Our local paper is going to be doing a story and in time many more papers will pick this up and soon it will be all over the country. And NO ONE will fall for this ever again.

My story is exactly the same as everyone else. It started with a phone call “verifying” my address and phone number. I told them over and over I was not authorizing anything. They told me it didn’t cost a thing we were in this publication before and they just needed to update the information. I was fairly new so I didn’t know we were never in the publication. The part of the call they recorded dropped off 3 times before getting me to say yes to something.
Now I go round and round with Angela Dussett mostly. I’ve told them we will not be paying, and if they were going to take us to court then get it over with and send me the paperwork.
Their facts change every time I talk to someone. Everything from whether it’s a printed or online publication, to when it went to print. We still can’t find our ad online.
We don’t plan on paying and it seems like their strategy is to harass and scare people into paying. It’s not working and it’s making them angry. If you can handle the harassment for a while they’ll give up.

I was just a victim of this as well, however, I hung up before I verified "Yes" that I would pay the $29.99 fee or whatever it was for my home business.

This guy was VERY AGGRESSIVE and his tactic was very tricky..... Basically there would be a recorded/automated voice in the background asking me questions, but he would SPEAK DIRECTLY OVER the recorded voice so that I couldn't hear it, and replaced it with his own questions. I just happened to notice towards the end that what he was saying didn't match up with the recorded voice in the background and I hung up.

If these jerks call again I am going to give them a serious piece of my mind. And my lawyer.

Today I was called by Gordon from the Yellow Pages. He said he had an unpaid invoice on his desk and needed to get it resolved. I asked if his office is in Canada and he said yes, the corporate office was in Canada. I told him we would not be paying the invoice that I never authorized it. He said you are on tape and you did authorize it. I told him I said they could send the invoice with the information for the ad on it for my boss to see NOT to bill us for something we didn't want. Gordon then got rude, told me this wasn't going away and he could play me the recording. I told him I had already heard the doctored tape and to have a nice day we weren't paying the invoice. He got angry and loud and I hung up. He immediately called back and left a message on my voice mail that this wasn't going away just because I hung up on him. I have already filed a claim with the FTC but is there anything else I can do besides telling them we didn't ask for the service and to go away?

Same situation with our small company as well! We are refusing to pay the bill, and are reporting them to the IL AG office. What a complete disgrace NYPO is, with there phony tactics, fake invoices, and empty threats (I had the collection lady say that my credit rating would be damaged if I didn't pay--- GUESS WHAT, you don't have any of my personal information to get access to my credit rating, bee-otch!!!)

Sad to think that many businesses must be paying these jokers.

There is no legal basis (but I'd like to hear an attorney chime in here) with the fact that they never tell you they are recording the phone call, they never say things like "voice authorization" or the like, and I have never signed any purchase agreement!!! GET LOST NYPO!

I think I got scammed. Received a call from ?India - lots of phones ringing in the background - confirming info in order to "renew my yellow pages listing". When I asked if this was THE yellow pages and whether I already have a listing w/ the company he represents he said yes it's Yellow Pages Media which is the online branch of the yellow pages. He asked what was my position in the co. and sounded very pleased when I said president. I said I did not want to buy anything and I wanted his telephone # which he said the next person who he was connecting me to in ?shipping and receiving? dept. would be able to give it to me. After I got connected to S&H they id'd themselves as Yellow Pages Media (not THE yellow pages) He gave me their # as 877-380-8035 & when I called that # and asked polititely whether I indeed already have a contract with them, they hung up! Hmmmm. something does not smell right!

This is my experience with these guys...

My wife and I run a health food store, and one day we got a call from the National Yellow Pages Online. She asked to renew information regarding our listing, confirming our name, phone number, fax, etc. She then asked if I had the authority to authorize purchases. I said yes, and she said that was all and hung up.

About four or five days later we got an invoice for 389.99. I was confused as we have a listing in the yellow pages, but that amount seemed too much. I called and left a message saying to call me about our account. Before he called back, I did research them on the internet and found out the scam that they were running. So when he called back I basically told him we wouldn't be paying, I knew it was a scam, and he was wasting his time.

They will yell at you, threaten you, and say they have a recording. You cannot attempt to converse with them because then they think they have a shot at you paying them money. Everything he said to me, my response was I know this is a scam, you are all over the internet, you're WASTING YOUR TIME. Eventually he gave up, although I did get a call back trying to get me to listen to the recording. I did the same thing as before, and they get tired of it, and realize you really are a waste of time.

We haven't gotten another call, fax, or invoice sent in the mail. I thought I'd share that, because it was effective for us and it seems like other

The point is... We as consumers have ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS protecting us from these scams! I am frankly sick and tired of it! Every month we get 2-3 phone calls regarding these scammed yellow page listings. The claim that I authorized the order and then they send me an invoice for a ridiculous amount (449.95). The name is Yellow Pages Connect located on 5540 Centerview Drive in NC. They claim that they should have sent me a Fax canceling the order, but obviously i never got one. Then he proceeds to ask me the persons name that I spoke with, like i write the name down of every punk solicitor that calls me for this junk. Im sick of this and Im sick of our country and their priorities. We are not protected by these assholes and it's getting super annoying. As the owner of a small business I have enough to think about then this bullshit scam.

Hi everyone -

I had the same experiencing that apparently 124 others had (according to the BBB in Chicago). National Yellow Pages Online contacted me in Nov. 2007 - same tactics - recorded authorization/doctored tape, etc... The company harrassed me for over a year with the last contact about a week ago. There new scam is having a credit agency contact you trying to collect what now is a $600 invoice with interest and penalties. BEWARE The "credit agency" is based in Wisconsin and is operated by the same crew. Don't fall for it - and don't pay it! Further, we have discovered that both companies as well as a few other "shell" companies run by this guy "Daniels" are under investigation by a number of federal agencies for Interstate Commerce violations and Mail Fraud. It'll only be a matter of time before they are indicted.

Same thing happened to us- a church. Last November I got a call asking to verify information. I was told it was NOT a sales call. When asked if I was authorized, I said no. He told me it was just verifying our current information on our ad. So, I thought, well maybe it was an ad we currently had.
I was then passed on to the other person. I could hardly hear them.
When we got our bill I called to cancel about it, and of course, was told it was too late.
We tried telling them we weren't paying. Of course, they played the recording of me, but you could tell it was doctored.
In the end we paid it, and thought we were done with them.
THEN, a couple weeks ago, I got a phone call. I thought it was just another one wanting to verify our info, and told them we weren't interested. She then informed me that this was a current bill for an ad that was authorized last November. I told her we paid it. She then stated that it was a 2-year contract!!! I could not believe it! She passed me on to the other person. At that moment, I held the phone away from ear and proceeded to tell our minister what was going on. He told me to hang up, so I did!!
Of course, they called back and he told them we are not paying and I was not allowed to talk to them. I've had a Tara call me a couple times saying she had our invoice and that she was told we had some questions. I told her I am not allowed to talk to them, they have to talk to our minister. He wasn't in today though.
So, I am printing off all these comments and telling them NOT to pay this no matter what they try!!!

Just received a call from someone calling about renewing a Yellow Pages ad. I flat out asked what company she was with and she said AT&T. A flat out lie, as none of the information she had matched our AT&T YP Ad. I asked for a number I could call back when I had time to "verify" my ad. I was given 1-877-380-8035. That is NOT an AT&T number and a google search turned up this thread. So now the scammers just plain lie to you, instead of using shifty wording.

I got the same phone call in early November for the Online National Yellow Pages. I went through the steps, although I expressly said I had no authorization to approve any transaction. Lately, we have been recieving several phone calls and faxes demanding money, and threatening legal action. Fortunately, I work for a government owned entity with several experienced attorneys on payroll. Maybe GOAM calling my job will aid in their undoing. I feel terrible for those of you who own a small business recieving harassing phone calls, and especially for those of you who paid because of their scare tactics. I can only imagine legal action will be brought against them in the near future.

Argh!! I got the same call in early August... from America Online Yellow Pages. I don't see this specific comapany listed by anyone here, but I've been dealing with the same issues. They're now threatening to send our past due invoice to collections.

Has anyone else dealt with this company? and have you had any luck resolving the issue?!?

I do find it convenient for them that they tape only what they need.

I just received a Verizon invoice with a "new provider" showing for extra charges that "Doubled my bill"!!
I called the company: MORE YELLOWPAGES, INC. (note skipping around "Yellow Pages" words. I asked for recording wich I also beleive to be doctored-up. I agreed to pay because it was our employees voice.

However, ALL of my emploees know to HANG-UP on anyone that calls claiming to have anything to do with phone companies or any Yellow Page advertising.
"I" am the only on authorized to approve or order ANYTHING to do with the phones. I also have a "pick-freeze" on our account that only lets me. personally change anything on our account.

We have a small frame shop and have been having all of these same problems with a company calling themselves YP.COM, YP Media and yellowpagesmediaonline.com. They call themselves something different every time. Same manipulated taped "authorization." Threatening phone calls have now turned to faxed copies of our past due invoice. We will not be paying them and would love to help put them out of business.

After filing a complaint against YP Media out of NY/NJ, I was contacted by the NY Attorney General's Office. They are working on taking this company down. An arrest has been made. DO NOT PAY THEM! This company claims that their victims owe them 499.95 for yellow pages advertising.

I once again received a call from the National Online Yellow Pages today (first post was Dec. 4). This time when I brought up the fact that I knew what they were doing was a scam, they told me it was because a company they were going through was misrepresenting them. I then said if that were the case, then that means any supposed contract I had would be null and void. They didn't like that response too much and threatened me personally with legal action. After a few minutes of defiance, like bringing up a countersuit for harassment, they hung up on me mid-sentence.

I personally like to argue, so unless you have about 10 minutes to kill and a "type A" personality like me, don't waste your time with these fools. Hang up on them as soon as they identify themselves. From what I have read, there has been no instance where the company has ever brought legitimate legal charges agaisnt anyone, so no worries there.

Us too!!! I just had a voice mail from the National Yellow Pages saying that they don't care what the owner has to say. I have to pay this bill!! That is obsurd! Then they play back a recording of me saying yes to a listing for $389. I would never authorize such a purchase without speaking with my boss first. The recording that they had me listen to was so chopped up! I am so glad to read these comments. Now I don't feel so upset! These vultures are not getting a dime!

uuuuuuuuummmmmmmmm what is the address?....you should post that....so people know which building it is....downtown has a loooooooooot of tele marketing places!!!! edit your blog and post the address...it would help alot of people!!!;;;),,,,have a great day.to all is good and harm none!

The address information that is on the invoice is as follows:

Online National Yellow Pages
8345 NW 66th St., Suite # 5081
Miami, FL 33166-2626
Phone: 1.866.910.9422
Fax: 1.866.910.9421

They will only let me talk to one person! His name is Peter Cole at ext. 601. From what he says, he is the highest that you can go with this issue. I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT! He even tried to justify his "employee's" actions! This is crazy! How can people legally get away with this torment to small businesses?

Has anyone received an overdue "bill" for more than $499.95? For any normal business, that wouldn't be illegal, but because they are using theft by swindle, anything amount $500 and over on a single crime is a felony if/when they are caught. Just thought I'd share that interesting tidbit with everyone.

So....I got a call 01-15-09 from a company who obviously purchased our information from our original scamming company.

The lady, Lisa, was calling from Yellow Pages Connect. She said she was calling to arrange payments on a bill that was past due. The bill, by the way is for $406.81. I advised her that I had received previous statements from her, had been scammed recently by a similar company and simply wasn't paying. She said that our account was sitting in collections and on it's way to a lawyer. I said, Thanks for letting me know. You can mark down that I said we aren't paying. She said that she had a recording of me authorizing payment. I said, I'm sure you do! You probably purchased it from the first company that scammed us. She again mentioned how our account was being sent to a lawyer's office. I thanked her again for keeping me up to date and hung up.

The information on THIS company is as follows:

Lisa Palmer
Yellow Pages Connect
5540 Centerview Drive #200
Raleigh NC 27606

Phone: 866-633-9939 ext 343
Fax: 866-633-9940

This woman immediately asked for payment without telling me the company name or why I owed her money. I just knew it was her because I'd received a fax from her 08-21-08 and kept it. But she didn't give ANY identifying information had I not known who she was & what she was up to!

YP MEDIA (877) 380-8035 784 Morris Turnpike, Suite 370 Short Hills, NJ 07078-2698 This company was brought to BBB NJ’s attention in October of 2008, and locally, an accredited business in our region contacted us inquiring about a questionable invoice they received from this company, as well. BBB NJ has received complaints alleging that the business bills customers $499.95 for media services for advertising. However, customers claim they did not request such services from the business. For tips on how to handle unauthorized Yellow Pages Directory Invoices, the FTC offers advice at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/alerts/alt019.shtm

I was at work today and i got a similar phone call from one of the yellowpages people. The lady could barely speak english and she asked me to verify some info. I told her no that only the owner could and she said it was ok since I was an employee. I told her the name of the business and the address and she was going to transfer me to her "supervisor" and I told her no and she hung up. Do you think I should have anything to worry about then?

If you didn't answer any questions with "yes" then you are definitely in the clear.

Otherwise, keep an ear out - you may be receiving a fake collections call in a month....to the day.

i mean she asked if it was the name of the company and i said yes and then she asked if the address was correct and i said yes and then she was going to transfer me and she hung up

Kim...I would suggest just be ready if they call back and don't be intimidated. They use fear to get you to pay. Just hang up on them. Don't talk to them at all. Their goal is to get you to talk. It gives them hope that they'll be able to get in there with strong arm tactics and persuade you to pay. It will take a bunch of phone calls for them to give up, but they will give up.

Hey Kim ~

Unfortunately, that's how they got me. I answered yes to confirm a couple questions and next thing I know I'm in a world of trouble.

Like Michelle said, Don't talk to them! It's your best defense. They will try to bully you to no end and threaten your company's credit rating.

It's nothing but lies. So just ignore any calls. And if they got you with your "yes's" - like I said you will have a good 30 days to prepare for the first "collection call".

I don't ever answer yes anymore - I have a hard time trusting any company that calls.

We've been hit by a copycat of the Yellow Pages too.

This is her info:

Lisa Palmer / Yellow Pages Connect
Phone 866-633-9939 ext 343
Fax: 866-633-9940

She has recently started to harass me. I told her when she called that I was aware that this was yet another scam and her bill would not be paid. She asked if I realized it would then be sent to a lawyer. I thanked her for the update and hung up.

I will no longer be bullied by scams.

Oh...and even though Lisa keeps threatening me that my account will be sent to a lawyer, she keeps faxing me the same invoice saying I owe $489.13.

Not going to be paid.....ever.

ok thanks everyone. i didnt know if they record you as soon as you pick up the phone or after they transfer you to someone because i was only on the phone for about 20 seconds and i never talked to anyone else so i guess i will let my boss know to be on the lookout.

I am so glad I found this site! I have been dealing with this since August of 08. The company that is trying to get me calls themselves the local yellow pages. Website is thelocal-yellowpages.com. It's been the exact same scam. They called and got me on the phone to verify information. Since we do a lot of advertising, I didn't think twice about it. They have a recording of me on the phone saying that I am authorized to approve invoices. What I really said was that I am authorized to accept any invoices and would pass them along to the owner of the company.

I have asked repeatedly for a copy of a signed contract and every time they say they have a recording of me authorizing the invoice. The bill is for $489.95, but now they tacked on $58.58 in interest. We are not paying!

Yes, the YPMEdia scam. Same thing, they called us in Oct '08 to verify yellow pages info without any word of a purchase, the amount, or any kind of cancellation procedure (which they later try use against you by saying you didn't cancel within the "cancellation period" they never actually told you about). We've received several calls from Ken Adams, Dan, and Lauren. At first they tried to do us a favor by discounting the bill but now they're harassing us with phone calls. Here's another site to log your complaint: http://www.callercomplaints.com/SearchResult.aspx?Phone=877-380-8035&page=1

DON'T PAY THEM and make sure you report them:

BBB Online Complaint System--
https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/getstarted.aspx

FTC Online Complaint Asst.--
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

NY Attorney General Consumer Frauds Bureau--
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/consumer_frauds/about.html

We've been hit many times. I never fall for this crap tho.

YP Media... filed complaint with BBB, the eventually dropped the charges. I was later contacted by a Federal Agent who was investingating this company.

"Online Yellow Pages" called today saying we owed 479.95 and that it was past due since 2007. I asked him to send me an invoice, he said one was sent in 2008. I told him to go ahead and send it, but that we weren't paying.
I asked for a phone number for his company he said they would contact me. I asked for HIS direct phone, he said he was on an auto dialer and I couldn't reach him. I asked if there was ANY way to contact his company, and he said of course... but refused to give me info. He kept telling me to go online to get it. WHAT LEGIT company would not be willing to give out a phone number? So I finally said so you're telling me that there is no way for me to contact your company... he said no of course not. I said well tell me how. He said they would contact me. I said, thats not good enough...At least give me an email address... which he referred me AGAIN to look online. When I came back with "you've got to be kidding. we're not funding your scam" he finally hung up.

dont fall for this crap!!!

Our office policy is as such: We do not do business over the phone, we require information in writing. We do not accept online solicitations for any reason, kind of we'll contact you if were' interested in such a service, dont contact us. Everyone who answers the phone knows this. And anyone calling from any kind of yellow pages/advertising company etc is always asked to hold for me.

Good luck. They'll keep calling and calling. I've actually started to find it amusing to get them so wired. I even had one say to me "MA'AM THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER" Indeed, it is. Fraud is everywhere, and with the economy in shambles, its only going to get worse. Dont be a victim.

Yes and as the economy continues to worsen scams like these will be more common. Just watch every piece of mail thats comes to your Payables. depts

I've found that the best way to deal with these people is to simply, and politely tell them that "We do not confirm this information over the phone. You are more than welcome to send us a fax request." More times than not they hang up on you before you can even get that statement out of your mouth.

We are going through the same thing right now with a company called National Yellow Pages USA. I've been getting harrassing calls from them since December '08. Two years ago we were scammed by GoAm and I'll be darned if it's going to happen again. BBB did nothing for us then, so I'm not going to bother contacting them again. Anyway, everything is being done just like some of you have stated. They call and I just tell them to not call again and hang up. Today, we got a bill from them with the original $494.63 charge, plus interest, late fees and collection charge. Now the bill is: $614.67 and they claim it will continue to grow until it's paid. It says that we have to pay the bill by 4/10/09, which is funny because the letter is postmarked 4/13/09 and we received it today. It also states that if not paid by the 10th, that they would pursue the matter in court OR report it to their collection agency who will contact the credit report companies (that will hurt my credit) and the IRS (which may cause me to be audited).

I'm curious if anyone who has refused to pay has ever had any of these companies go through with their threats.

We never authorized anything. We don't talk to ANY Yellow Pages, even AT&T over the phone any more since the GoAm scam. If they say Yellow Pages, we hang up, so there's no way that we authorized any listing anywhere. We are a in-home business with just me and my mother. This is really hurting my mother (she's 79) with their threats and phone calls. I just wish there was something I could do. I do know that they aren't seeing a cent of my money. I can only hope that one day they give up.

Here is their information:

National Yellow Pages USA

1815 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd.
Suite 368
Hallandale, FL 33009

Tel: 1-877-969-7875
Fax: 1-877-934-6367

The name on the letter is:

James Macpherson
Account Manager

Hopefully no one else will get scammed by these people or anyone else for that matter. Good luck all!

Just to respond to the last posting.....Since our initial scam happened last year - March '08, we have since received another letter from

YellowPages Connect
5540 Centerview DRive #200
Raleigh NC 27606
Phone: 866-633-9939
Fax: 866-633-9940

The person who constantly calls/faxes bills is Lisa Palmer who is now listed as a Senior Credit Officer (only recently did she start putting a title under her name).

This company has OBVIOUSLY purchased the fake tape from our original scam artists National Yellow Pages Online. Because I have NOT spoken with any yellow pages company since the first scam and this Lisa woman keeps telling me she has me on tape agreeing to this purchase which is now at $506.95. It started at $460.81. That was in August 2008 (and with all the threats, the interest has only been $46!).

The last time she called me I said I was sure she did have a tape. And it was probably the fake tape she bought from another company. I told her to send us to collections because the bill would NOT be paid as it was not legitimate.

I then received a few letters saying I was going to collections or rather, that the clinic was going to collections. Then I got a letter 04/07/2009 demanding more payment within 10 days. Bottom line - they are full of it. I'm not going to collections because they aren't legitimate! So DON'T PAY THE BILL......they can't do anything about it anyway.

My biggest hope is that these companies are finally figured out and shut down. How these people sleep at night, I will never really understand.

Because I told whomever was calling that our office doesn't handle billing and they'd have to go through our finance department, we have only gotten two calls since the end of December and no letters or faxes. The original fax had a Florida address on it, the same one Angie posted on Jan. 20th.

As for the document, if you take a picture of it, you can upload it to photobucket.com. You have to sign up to use the site, but it's free.

Yellow Pages Connect is a SCAM and a joke. I have encountered the same issues with them, and like most of you never paid them and never will. We eventually stopped hearing from them.

Updating my April 15th post. We received a phone call today from the scammers again, supposedly from their lawyer wanting to know how we are planning on paying the original $460.81 bill and when my mother told them we weren't, he upped the bill to $1600.00 and gave her a case number. He said he was going to take us to court and that we had till Tuesday to pay it. He also said he would ruin our credit,etc. When my mother tried to ask him anything, he just kept talking like he was reading off of a paper. She then said she would just take this to her lawyer and the guy, (his name is Pat McBride), wanted to know the name of our lawyer. When my mother told him it was none of his business, he laughed at her and said she probably doesn't even have one. She then asked him why the bill suddenly jumped $1200.00 and told him that was probably his fees added. He told her that he doesn't make anything off of it and mom said that he must not be a real lawyer then and hung up on him. Mom said all the time he was talking it was obvious that he was reading off of a sheet and he couldn't answer any of her questions. She also said he sounded pretty young. The phone number that he gave me I looked up, 877-969-7875, and it's National Yellow Pages and not a lawyer's office. It's really too bad these people can't use all the effort that they put into scamming people for doing good.

Another update: Got another bill from National Yellow Pages saying they were going to take me to court in my town or turn me over to collections. It said it has to be paid by 4-17-09, yet the mailing was postmarked 4-29-09 and we recieved it 5-01-09. What I also find funny is that their bills never have a return address on the envelope, only on the inside bill where it can't be seen. The bill had a form in it to fill out with our credit card info. Yeah right, they're going to get that! Anyway, today we get a call from McBride, who must've gotten demoted because now he's a paralegal for NYP instead of a lawyer and I told him I wasn't paying and hung up. So far he hasn't called back, though I'm sure he will tomorrow. When he called last week he said that we had till Tuesday (tomorrow) to contact him, yet they've been calling every day. What upsets me is that my mother is a nervous wreck about it. I told her not to worry but it's hard when she's not used to dealing with people like this. It's too bad we can sue them.

Anyone got a call from Trans Credit Recovery LLC (tcr-inc.biz). They claim to be a collection agency for one of the yellow pages scams. They refuse to give any info on the original company that the charge is for, but believe it to be thelocal-yellowpages.com. They are persistent, but seem unexperienced as they are not pushy and get nervous when asked questions.
Also dealt with NYPO before. What happened to their website. They have some kind of fraud alert ticker on the bottom? And it seems the site was taken over in early 2009. Is this still the same scammers?

My story is similar to all the above except for a few differences. Unfortunately I was taken in by the recording that the National Yellow Pages Online played back to me (even though I had no recollection of the conversation) and so we initially paid them in early '08 but then a year later we got a call from a guy named Zach at DRS-Without Prejudice, a collections agency in Minnesota, working on behalf of NYPO, saying that we owe another $424.99 because I had allegedly agreed to an automatically renewing contract that renews every six months and that I had agreed to the terms and conditions set forth on the website (which of course I hadn't). This guy was friendly enough at first but then turned nasty when we told him we weren't paying. Has anyone else dealth with DRS or been told that their "account" automatically renews itself?

Just got another call from yet another yellowpages scammer! He wanted to know if we wanted to renew our online ad. Just like the others, the same speal. Supposedly we had an online ad for a year, blah blah. I didn't give him a chance to say anything else, just told him forget it, that we don't do online ads with anybody at all and to not call back. I'm getting pretty sick of this. I can't remember the name of this one, maybe AME? Not sure. I was too ticked off. I haven't heard from National Yellow Pages since I told them I wasn't paying. They probably sold our number to these people to at least get something out of it.

When does this end?

I too have had to deal with these idiots. A few months ago I got the call from The National Yellow Pages. At the time I simply told them that I would be glad to receive information on the service they offered by mail. They transferred me to the infamous verification department who informed me that they would send out an invoice. I told them (which was audible on their recording) that I was not authorizing any service agreement only information. I was told by the woman that the invoice was for service from the previous year and was already due. I told her to go ahead and send it to my attention and I would route to the correct person.

To my knowledge an invoice was never received. Weeks later I started getting the calls. Listening to the phoney recording. Arguing daily with Joseph (I think).

This morning I get another call. This one from E.M.A. (Executive Marketing Associates). The new flunkie calling me (get this) JAMES SMITH.

Now this is funny, They too want me to renew our advertising, which according to James, I authorized in March of 2008. HMMMMM I did not start working here until August of 2008. This is just too much. I had to ask James if he was a religious man and wasn't he afraid that he might die on his way home tonight and have to spend the rest of eternity in hell for his lies.

HE HUNG UP!

BEWARE OF A.M.E. They are the new national yellowpages

When I am able to get their phone number, I call them stating I'm Sandra from blah blah yellowpages.com. Im calling today to update your company information in our directory. Then I get a "Click" and dial tone. LOL. Payback is sweet.

For Release:

Federal Trade Commission v.6654916 Canada Inc., a Canadian Corporation, d/b/a National Yellow Pages Online Inc., 9187-4131 Quebec Inc., a Quebec corporation, d/b/a Sharing Telecom Solutions, National Yellow Pages Online, LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company, DRS Without Prejudice, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, Riaz A. Butt, individually and as an owner, officer, or director of Corporate Defendants National Yellow Pages Online, LLC, and DRS Without Prejudice, Inc., Faheem Ahmed Mughal, individually and as an owner, officer, or director of Corporate Defendants 6654916 Canada Inc., and National Yellow Pages Online, LLC, Nabeel Azmat, individually and as an owner, officer, or director of Corporate Defendant 6654916 Canada Inc., Sohail Azmat, individually and as an owner, officer, or director of Corporate Defendant 6654916 Canada Inc., and Bilal Ahmed Malik, aka Bobby Malik, individually and as an owner, officer, or director of Corporate Defendants 6654916 Canada Inc. And 9187-4131 Quebec Inc. And also doing business as Online National Yellow Pages.
(United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division)
FTC File No. 082 3262

http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0823262/index.shtm

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/06/optmirage.shtm

That's great news Aban. Thank you for posting that.

Another update: Haven't heard anything from National Yellow Pages since I basically told them I knew of their scam and I wasn't paying no matter what they wanted to do. But, just recieved a invoice from Go Yellow Pages for $449.95. Never talked to these guys at all. I think we're all just on one big mailing list and they just keep sending these things out hoping to get someone to pay. Anyhow, I will make a copy, write them a nasty letter as always and ignore them.

Thanks everyone for your help and opinions!

They may be under investigation but they are still alive and well and calling from "lifted" telephone numbers, in alphabetical order, I might add. Received Eastern Indian voice phone call for yellow pages from 765-452-7615 (Looked up phone number and it's to a Miller's Lounge Tavern in Indiana) Next yellow pages call from 810-632-5720, Eastern Indian man again. Looked up phone number and it is to a Mystic Builders in Michigan. This won't stop for quite a while. Next time they call, tell them you will transfer them to someone that makes those decisions and transfer them to the nearest Justice Department.

So I am working for a small business and I notice some weird charges on the phone bill. I ask if anyone knows what they are. I call AT&T and our consultant said that we must have said "yes" to some scammer! I am so angry with AT&T. They also allowed this to happen by just letting scammers get to us through them! Well, after a lot of painful phone calls of which I made me very angry, I got the charges taken off. It saved the company about $100 a month.

I sent out an e-mail to everyone saying DO NOT TALK TO THESE PEOPLE. When I called to cancel the service, they replayed the message and it is sooo obvious that it was a scam.

Now the "yellow page pirates" call twice to three times a day! They are trying to get us again, but it won't work! I don't care how rude I have to be to get it across. Luckily I am usually the one who answers the phone now. Every time I answer the phone, it's like they know! Ha ha! They will never get passed me. Don't let them get passed you!

They try to get us by "updating" our current information. One sign is that they ask for your full name. I gave them a fake first name and told them they did not need to know my last name because I was the only one in the company with that name. They went ballistic when I would not give in.

I checked the yellow pages just to make sure, of course our information is correct, always has been. It has been such a relief to know that I am not crazy about the yellow page people. These posts have been so informative! Thanks for standing up for consumer and business rights!

Got this call last week. It was the first time I heard about this scam. I said yes to everything but only after they reassured me I wasn't agreeing to anything or buying anything. They had to make a second recording because I asked too many questions during the first one. After I hung up, I realized that I had just been scammed.

Can I call ATT and have them block these charges? What can I do? I already know that down the line I'm not going to pay them a cent, but I'm just wondering if I can stop it early on since the phone call was only about three days ago.

Got this call last week. It was the first time I heard about this scam. I said yes to everything but only after they reassured me I wasn't agreeing to anything or buying anything. They had to make a second recording because I asked too many questions during the first one. After I hung up, I realized that I had just been scammed.

Can I call ATT and have them block these charges? What can I do? I already know that down the line I'm not going to pay them a cent, but I'm just wondering if I can stop it early on since the phone call was only about three days ago.

Hey Will ~

You probably won't be able to get the charges blocked - but if you didn't give them any credit card info over the phone, you're fine anyway.

However, in about a month - you will start receiving hateful phone calls. And that's when you have to ignore each & every one. If you give in, call your credit card company immediately to dispute.

But your best bet is to tell them you have already contacted the FTC and are having them investigated or something. Do something to "scare them off".

No matter what, stand your ground - tell them you know it's a scam and DON'T PAY THEM A DIME!!!!!

Later, they may sell your information to other companies, ignore them all. The company that later started to harass us mostly faxes requests.

Here is an excellent --and official-- summation of the joint US Federal Trade Commission & Canadian prosecution of this Canadian-based scam: "Operation Mirage".

Warning!: Do NOT pay any money to these crooks!
You are not legally liable for these charges!

http://800notes.com/articles/News.aspx/zgKmY-U8vQD_HAjLsyGq_g

4 Jun 2009
The Federal Trade Commission has filed suit to halt the illegal operations of several telemarketing boiler rooms in Montreal, Canada. The agency alleged that the telemarketers bilked thousands of small- and medium-sized U.S. businesses and non-profits, including churches, schools, and charities, out of millions of dollars by deceiving them into paying for listings they never ordered in worthless business directories.

The FTC lawsuits, filed in federal court in Illinois, are part of a joint initiative with Canadian law enforcement authorities called 'Operation Mirage' that is aimed at cracking down on business directory scams. The FTC charged that the three telemarketing operations targeted businesses and other organizations with schemes to mislead them into paying hundreds of dollars each for unwanted business directory listings. The court has issued temporary restraining orders in the three cases.

In their phone calls to businesses and non-profits, the telemarketers often have posed as well-known local 'yellow pages' directories, and have told employees who answer the phone that they are calling to verify addresses and telephone numbers, the FTC's complaints stated. The telemarketers then used the 'verifications' as the basis to claim that these organizations agreed to listings that often cost $400 or more.

The FTC alleged that the companies then sent their victims invoices that again often imply that they are well-known yellow-pages companies. Many businesses and organizations simply paid these invoices. Those that did not were harassed with threatening phone calls and letters. To hide their location, the companies have used mailing addresses around the United States, in Miami; Phoenix; Plattsburgh, New York; Port Barre, Louisiana; Russell, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Jersey City, New Jersey, the FTC alleged.

The complaints were filed against Reed Publishing, National Yellow Pages Online LLC, Integration Media Inc., doing business as GoAm Media, and others as well as their operators.

The Commission is seeking permanent injunctions that would force the defendants

Both of these websites are one nd the same. You can see the scrolling messages are the same indicating it is someone else involved in Fraud.

These are the real fraud Mccoys.

http://www.nationalyellowpagesonline.com/

http://www.onlinenationalyellowpages.com/

I think i was just scam by a similar company. i forget the name. but it was something "online yellows pages". they got me by saying they were renewing our business ad. then they transfer me to a "Quality Control" operator and record the conversation at the end of the conversation he starts to talking really fast and pretty much forces me to say "yes". i think they got me, this happened on 7-17-09. i was wondering if we can stop/cancel anything we were trick to sign up with.
Also i not even an employee of the business i just help out there, so i was not authorize to go though with the whole thing but they led me to believe i what they were asking if i was authorize to verify the address renewal.
please i just want to stop this now before anything happens

Are most of these calls saying that they offer a free listing that can be upgraded for 39.95 if agreed to at a later time? Or anything like that? I had one of these calls yesterday and stupidly agreed to it, thinking it would be free anyways. I know I'm not supposed to agree to these, I just wasn't thinking clearly that day. They represented themselves as something Yellow Pages. It sounded like motor, but I couldn't really understand the word through the accent. Thank you!

AT&T is -almost- as much to blame. They have allowed 3rd-party billing companies to do their work for them -and thus eliminate 100's of job in the process. These 3rd-party folks have no real obligation to verify what comes their way or who is sending it. Fortunately, they seem to be very familiar with the various scams and are very helpful when it comes to removing phony charges.
As for the people who call/fax/write and "demand" payment, give them the name and number of anyone you can find at the office of your State's Attorny. Give the caller your best Valley Girl/Guy voice and say: "All billing is handled through our office - please call at . Best of luck.

~Dave

For all of these telemarketing scams, last year I was referred by a colleague of mine to call upon the services of a company by the name of SPG Consultants. I spoke to the President of the company, Mr. Winston Grant about my situation and he was able to accommodate an aggressive overview of the excessive and completely hollow advertizing regiment that consumed part of our budget and valuable time.

He took the invoices we had from various telemarketing companies and took over that aspect of the company. Within no time, he was able to stop not only the soliciting phone calls but also was able to bring these companies to a standstill to claim any amounts of money from the company and the best part is that there is a follow up, which means that whenever I get a telemarketing phone call, I call SPG Consultants and they take care of it.

They are very knowledgeable of the industry which means that they know and can convey sensible and intelligent information when it comes to companies that will benefit your own.

There is a solution. I am posting the link because I want companies to realize that there is an alternative to the telemarketing scams and problems. It’s called peace of mind...

http://www.spgconsultants.webs.com/

Just got a call from Golden Yellow Pages saying that we need to get our bill taken care of. I've never heard of this scammer so beware. Anyway, they said they'd be sending a bill out and we'd need to pay it right away. Well, they'll be waiting till hell freezes over for their payment! I have quite a stack of fake invoices from these different companies.

DON'T PAY THEM A CENT!

Go Yellow Pages Online has sent their dogs after me through a collection agency called A.C.A Recovery out of New Jersey. There's a supposed lawyer's name on it, Norman G. Kalina, but from what I've been reading online, they are just as sleazy as the yellow pages scammers. Just when I thought I got rid of one, I get another one after me. Google Yellow Pages has called me a couple of times too. When does it ever end????

Anyone else ever get a collection agency notice?