SURREY County Council's Trading Standards Service has issued a warning to businesses after the authority received a number of calls from companies which have been asked to pay money for bogus or worthless publications. Rogue 'publishers' can make huge sums of money by inducing large numbers of victims to pay for adverts in publications that do not exist, or are not what victims are led to believe. Although financial losses to individual businesses are not usually large, some of the tactics used (particularly when chasing payments) can cause nuisance or genuine alarm or distress. Smaller businesses are usually targeted and operatives use deliberately misleading patter that is often carefully scripted to sell advertising space in various types of publications - wall planners, diaries, yearbooks, crime prevention or drugs awareness booklets etc. Costs usually range from about £100 to £1,000, depending upon the size of advert. Although there are genuine businesses in this field of work, there are a number of scams which use quite a crude hit-and-miss approaches, but a surprising number of victims pay the invoice without question, particularly if the amount involved is relatively small. Trading standards has been told of a number of such publications claiming they are being produced on behalf of some reputable or worthy sounding cause, or that proceeds will go to charity. They may even pose as a reputable publisher or organisation, with whom the target may have with dealt before, or quote the name of a person within the target company as authorising the contract. In reality some of these rogue 'publishers' produce nothing at all, and although some may produce a few token copies of the supposed publication, these are not circulated in sufficient numbers or in the right areas to be of any practical benefit to the victims. It is quite common for them to chase payment relentlessly by the use of 'debt collection agencies', which are often owned and run by the rogue publishing company. They may send demanding letters and threats of court action and many victims pay up even though they feel they have been conned because they feel it is simply not worth the time and hassle to make a stand. "The best advice we can give is that if you are approached by a publishing company, clarify what they say and seek further information on what they do not say, for example before placing an order insist on them providing you their full name and address and demand written details of what they offer together with a copy of the full terms and conditions," trading standards advised. "Never place an advert over the phone unless you are absolutely happy with the publisher you are dealing with and what you are being offered. "Think about why you want to advertise and who is your target audience, will this publication reach them in a cost-effective way? "If you wish to complain about what you suspect is a rogue publisher, or want further information, you can contact your local police or Surrey Trading Standards."
