Irish Property Guides - Scam?

Pnoddy

Hello all,

Just got off the phone with a lady from "The Irish Property Guides", [snip I believe she said her name was. Offering to write an article about our company for their upcoming publication. All we had to do was submit a list of our Business Associates and Sub-Contractors. They would, free of charge no less, write an article about us and send a photographer to our offices in preparation for the publication.

It sounded familiar to a phonecall I had earlier in the year from [snip] of the Plan Design and Build magazine. So I dug up the email, and again, same story, article, photos, blah blah, associates and subbies.

The word files they sent to fill out are exactly the bloody same. Even the postal address is the same!

Clearly this is some sort of con job. I just don't see how they are benefiting from it. Anyone have a take on it?

PS Both The Irish Property Guide and therefore Plan Design and Build are linked to a [look this one up yourself], found that from solocheck. Lots of taxman related info on them in the press. Allegedly.


My boss: Why have you no work done today?

Me: Researching scam phonecall

MOH

Vague memory of a similar post before when they then came back later looking for payment for the article/advertising they'd done. Can't remember if that OP even saw the alleged magazine, certainly hadn't agreed to anything, but was one of those scams where if they threatened enough people some of them would pay up.
(Note: I'm not saying your case is a scam, may well be a completely legitimate magazine, just saying that's how the scam worked in a previous case)

L1011

No personal details in posts please

I would imagine these magazines actually exist but they are advertising to a single trade and will be trying to flog ads to you and every other contact you give them.

CeilingFly

Once you agree they then contact all your suppliers telling them of the "feature" they are running and that you gave them details to contact them to take a support advertisement.

Your supplier will curse you and feel obliged to spend €200 for no return.

That's how it works.

coylemj

These people cast the net as wide as possible - hence the request to the OP to supply the names of all of his employer's 'associates' and sub-contractors. They then start invoicing all of those people for their entry in a listings magazine, followed by final reminders and the threat of debt collectors.

There have been multiple threads on this subject from people running small businesses who are the main targets of this scam. The advice is to ignore them, there is no way that they will (or legally can) pursue such a 'debt' beyond sending vaguely threatening letters.

But to be 100% sure, it's vital that you do not respond to any e-mails or sign any form they give you to fill in because there will be small print where you commit to some 'service' offered by them.

I don't know how the OP thinks this is a 'consumer' issue.

CeilingFly

The company listed as operating it is stated as dissolved

http://www.solocheck.ie/Irish-Company/Irish-Property-Guide-Limited-273267

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

dudara

Not a Consumer Issue - moved to E&BM

dudara