Newsroom

OFT stops misleading home working ads

175/04    22 October 2004

Misleading home working advertisements have been stopped following OFT action.

David Breach trading as Delta Data Services and who previously traded as Neath Mailing Services, published adverts which gave the impression that respondents could earn money at home by filling and returning envelopes, when in fact the only way to earn money was to help recruit new agents to the scheme.

Agents placed adverts in windows and newspapers, and put flyers on car windscreens, inviting people to send a stamped addressed envelope for further details of a home working scheme advertising earnings of £130 for 100 envelopes. Respondents had to pay a £15 registration fee before they were given full details of the scheme, which involved agents obtaining responses from potential new agents through advertising before they earned any money.

David Breach has given the OFT undertakings that he will no longer publish or permit the publishing or dissemination of such misleading adverts.

John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said:

'This kind of advertising deceptively encourages people to pay to sign up to what looks like a work from home scheme, only to discover they have to solicit other people to the scheme in order to make any money.'

NOTES

1. The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations (CMARs) 1988 came into force on 20 June 1988 implementing an EC Directive on misleading advertising. The role of the OFT under the regualtions is mainly to support and reinforce the controls exercised by other bodies where they have been unable to take effective action. The OFT will step in only when these bodies have been unable to deal adequately with a complaint and where it is in the public interest that an advertisement is stopped by means of a court injunction.

The OFT can only act when a complaint has been received. To come within its scope an advertisement must be misleading (i.e. it must deceive or be likely to deceive the recipient and affect their economic behaviour, or for those reasons harm the interests of a competitor), and be published, in connection with a trade, business, craft or profession, in order to promote the supply or transfer of goods or services, immovable property, rights or obligations. The OFT can take action against anyone appearing to be concerned or likely to be concerned with the publication of a misleading advertisement.

'Advertisement' means any from of representations that is made in connection with a trade, business, craft or profession in order to promote the supply or transfer of goods or services, immovable property, right or obligations.

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