How scammers may target you

Scammers are very skillful in their approach and will appear to be a legitimate business. They will be pleasant and well spoken. Their leaflets, emails, letters and order forms will often look professional or official. Scammers are persistent and persuasive and try to rush you into making a decision. They may also target junior employees who may be less aware of the existence of scammers.

Unsolicited phone calls

Scammers often make initial approaches to businesses by telephone. They know you will be busy and hope to trick you into unwittingly agreeing to something. They will use a carefully designed script to mislead you into accepting products or services that you don't need or want, or to get company information to use for future scams.

See Example of an office supply scam
See Example of a charitable publishing scam

Misleading order forms

You could receive a form via the post, email, or fax appearing to offer a 'free' listing or asking if you wish to continue being included in a business directory or similar publications. You may be asked to check the details about your business that the publisher plans to place in the publication and to return the form even if you don't want to place an order.

In the small print it will state that by signing the form you are committing to an order. If you sign and return the form you are agreeing to pay for ongoing entries in the publication, costing hundreds of pounds per year.

See example of a misleading business directory order form (pdf 142 kb) 

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