66 responses to “Crime Prevention Booklet”

1. 

   Pastor Will Ross September 7th, 2009 at 11:23

   I am a pastor from a church in Basingstoke. The same company called me today and told me that I had agreed to and booked £200 worth of advertising space in the Crime Prevention Booklet. They wanted me to finalise the details and collect payment. They told me this was agreed by me on 20th June this year. However, I informed him the date was a Saturday and that no one was in the office on that date. I told him that it could never have been agreed and eventually they told me they would find some else to take the advertising space. The guy said the company was C & W.

2. 

   Sandy Bullivant October 8th, 2009 at 15:58

   We have been targetted by a least a dozen of these organisations and I am afraid that I fell for their pitch once.

   I have since challenged all of these low life callers. In fact when I was contacted about advertising on “Dial-999.co.uk” we reported them to the Home Office and each of the services that they claim to be working on behalf of, and Trading Standards for good measure. It is amazing how quickly a call from your local Police Officer can deter these vampires.

   My tip is, the pushier and more aggressive they get, let them have their rant and then inform them that you too have been recording this conversation and that a transcript is on its way to Trading Standards and the relevant agencies that they are representing.

   Also inform them to remove your details from their database with immediate effect and that any further contact will result in a full report to the Office of the Data Protection Commisioner and that under the Data Protection Act, further contact will result in prosecution.

   Always ask to see the publication in question before booking space and check their circulation with BRAD or one of the other media directories before continuing and conversation.

   Good Luck!

   Sandy

3. 

   Sarah Meaker November 2nd, 2009 at 15:16

   I have been called today, by a lady named ‘Samantha’ from Crime Prevention Booklet saying that I had agreed back in August ‘09 to the advertising space worth £149.

   Unfortunately, my mum (family business) had fallen for this pitch a while back and was sent a copy of the publication ‘Class M8′ which included a 40mm x 20mm advert that had been really badly designed and was printed badly – so I was aware of this as a potential scam anyway.

   However, they have said to me that they are going to send me the transcript of the call in tonights post – how on earth is this possible if I didn’t agree to anything?

4. 

   admin November 2nd, 2009 at 20:37

   Hi Sarah,

   Unfortunately this is the exact tactic they employ to get you to pay.

   I am however surprised that they mentioned the M8 publication as this is a publication produced by “Vardis” (I am not commenting on Vardis here as there is an ongoing investigation).

   I would suggest you contact Trading Standards asap. I would love to get a copy of the M8 publication if possible!!

   Thanks

5. 

   LG November 17th, 2009 at 17:35

   I have had a number of these over the past week or so. They all state a different publication and I too fell for it the first time around but have since recievd no copy of the publication. I now have 2 invoices in my in-tray, neither of which i am prepared to pay as I have not agreed to the advertising.

   If they call again I will ask for a transcript of the original call where I (supposedly) agreed to the advert.

   I will be passing all details on to the local trading standards office and my local police (especially as 1 of these scams said they were the police!

   It has been interesting reading your comments.

   Thanks

6. 

   Jill November 18th, 2009 at 22:43

   Hello,
   Today I recieved my invoice for £295 for an ‘emergency support booklet’ which I apparently agreed to support back in the summer….having googled this scam I’m so so glad I’ve found this website. These fraudsters I’ve had dealing with over the last five years have rented ‘offices’ or post boxes in the Wirral and Chester….alarm bells only started ringing in April this year after supporting a Vardis campaign for the Air ambulance. Booklets do turn up but they’re printed on photo paper from a normal inkjet printer and no doubt they are only printing one off specifically for each advertiser although they say the print run in for 10,000 copies.
   Huge big thanks for this website…can’t bear to add up how much my company has spent on these frauds over the last few years….all these invoices etc I’ve still got records of. Any help anyone needs with this in the future please contact us and we’ll be more than happy to help.
   Thanks again

7. 

   Gavin December 8th, 2009 at 16:36

   Hello,

   I had a call yesterday and a couple last week by the same person/s with this same scam! if you just tell them that you have contacted trading standards and the police they will hang up… if you get an invoice from them DO NOT PAY IT… they cant do anything anyway well apart from keep calling you but they will give up after a short while. any invoices you do receive keep them as evidence should you need them.

   After speaking to trading standards they have been inundated with people like ourselves and are building a case against these scammers.

   What to do when the scammers call you…

   Ask

   1. callers Name
   2. Company Name and Registration number
   3. contact tel number
   4. What publication will the advert go into
   5. end the conversation
   6. call trading standards with the information you have
   7. call watchdog with the same info.

   If enough people do this then the calls will stop and we’ll get to see these scammers squerm on tv too. sweet revenge!

8. 

   Alan January 22nd, 2010 at 14:53

   I have posted this on the School Book Scam by mistake.

   I have had Sutcliffe & Co trying the same scam with me.

   They are talking about a police booklet in which they consider I have agreed to advertise and have told me that they have the agreement recorded via taped phone message.

   Bring it on!

9. 

   Sandy Bullivant January 26th, 2010 at 18:59

   Heads Up! The calls have started again!

   This time from a chap claiming to be from a debt collection agency acting on behalf of a customer with whom I had placed an ad! Well – they are inventive and original if nothing else!!!!

   My advice is – regardless of what they claim, they do not have a contract with you. Do not agree to accept any booklets they want to mail to you or your local school (that could constitute agreement).

   Playing dumb and asking them to email the invoice across so that you can settle the bill today is useful as at least you have an address for them then that you can forward to Trading Standards.

   Out of interest, did any of you register for any trade exhibitions or shows in the week before the calls started. There has been an interesting correlation with one certain exhibition group: every time we register for one of their events, the calls start again…..

   Good Luck

   Sandy

10. 

    Chris February 4th, 2010 at 16:49

    We run a small group of car dealerships and have also been the target of this scam. They are getting clever and claiming that certain members of staff agreed to advertise in their publication, they do get agressive when told to go away and even have the cheek to send an invoice in the hope it will be paid!

11. 

    Craig February 18th, 2010 at 14:38

    I had one of these as soon as we started business from http://www.communisafeuk.org/

    They chased like crazy for payment up front and even sent me an invoice. Then I heard nothing

    My business partners brother works in the police and had never heard of the police magazine mentioned

12. 

    claire devrell February 26th, 2010 at 13:50

    I have been contacted by brightstart solutions limited. This is a scam too for a crime awareness handbook. They say they have sent me to debt collectors, who phoned yesterday saying i had 7 days to pay £149 or it could eventually lead to them breaking into my business and removing items of worth. I have contacted the local police and they say do not pay as you are unlikely to recieve any goods and they use threatening behaviour to intimidate and get you to pay.

13. 

    Stephen Hill March 3rd, 2010 at 13:43

    I too have had endless calls saying i agreed to purchase advertising in Aug last yr… Since reading and finding other things written about these companys I now inform them i am dealing with Trading Standards and Indeed the Police..

14. 

    sam March 3rd, 2010 at 21:15

    I work for a company who does advertising for small businesses and we do advertise them in booklets. we have been running for nearly 6 years and have had no problems with any of our clients unfortunatly there are plenty of people out there who are willing ti rip people off therefore we all get tarred with the same brush. i tihnk its unfair to us who are making an honest living or trying to anyway.

15. 

    admin March 3rd, 2010 at 21:21

    Hi Sam,

    Saddly this is true, but I am certain if your company is genuine, you do not employ the tactics the scammers use.

    What I do think is unfair is when hard working self employed individuals are scammed out of their money when they think it is for a good cause. What is unfair is that genuine charities are losing out because they are being used as a pawn in the scam.

    I am sure your industry has a code of ethics and trade representation. Why not get involved with those organisations and help us stamp out the scammers.

16. 

    Robert Davies March 11th, 2010 at 15:57

    Hi I received a call from Blueline Publications Liverpool last year spouting about cheap advertising in their Frontline magazine which goes out to 30000 homes in the local area.
    I agreed to advertise but said I would only pay when I received a copy of the said magazine.
    Low and behold two weeks ago the magazine drops through my letterbox with an invoice.
    Now, not having come down in the last shower, I did a little research on this company.

    They are listed on the advertising protection agencies website.

    No one from the local Police or Fire Service has ever heard of the magazine.

    They have no website or even an email address.

    Oh dear.

    Anyways, having paid nothing I haven’t lost nothing but last week received a call from a Mr. Nathan Stone, from Blueline Publications accounts department.

    Very aggressive and when I told him that he wouldn’t be seeing a penny from me threatened me with legal action stating that he had recorded me agreeing to advertise with them. Which I had, fair enough, but only if the magazine was distributed to the local area.

    Anyways Nathan – and anyone else who works for Blueline Publications (they have even copied their logo from a company with the same name in Canada!) this is how we deal with you.

    If they ring hassling you, send a letter recorded delivery asking for:

    Proof of circulation figures within 14 days from a recognized industry source.

    Better than that – tell them to go straight to court – they do not have a leg to stand on even if you agreed to advertise with them because they do not distribute the magazine as stated.

17. 

    Sandra Turney March 15th, 2010 at 16:27

    I was scammed also by communisafeuk – I have taken them to small claims now and will let you know, what if any, response I get.

18. 

    Andrew King March 18th, 2010 at 14:09

    I have received two calls in the past two days. The first was from a Charles Parker based in Liverpool (didn’t get the company name) who was confirming our discussion in December whereby we agreed to sponsor Drug awareness books. Having been caught by this last year I pointed out to him that I knew, as did he, that we hadn’t spoken in December, that I knew this was a scam and that he shouldn’t call again. I then hung up.
    Today I have just received a call from Moreton Long Limited, a Sarah Brown confirmed that we had spoken just before Christmas (no we hadn’t) and that their crime prevention campaign had gone well (how ironic). Before she could go any further I confirmed I knew this was a scam but enquired for more details of her and her company, she said if we weren’t interested she would take us off the list, but I was persistent (instead of the other way around for a change) and said it would be interesting to take some details. She reconfirmed her name rather hesitantly but when I asked for the company name again she hung up…oh dear I think I may of offended her!! My advice is remain calm on these calls and enjoy extracting information from them until they hang up. If I do get information from them I intend to thank them and confirm that I will be passing the information to the police.

19. 

    Robert Davies March 27th, 2010 at 12:00

    OK so here I am ‘again’ with more info on how my ongoing adventure with Blueline Publications is going.
    So haven’t heard from them since I last spoke to Nathan Stone unfortunately, but today I check my mail and guess what? A nice letter from a company called ‘Business Debt Recovery’, who from detailed searches I have carried out appear to not even exist. But I don’t suppose this stops the scum who posted it but heh ho.
    So here is what the lovely red letter says.

    ‘We are now in possession of a county court order as a consequence of non payment of the amount below.

    (first I’ve heard of it)

    Be advised that unless settelement of the claim shown hereon (shouldn’t that be herein?) is received by this office within 72 hours of the date on this letter (there is no date on the letter) we intend to advise our client to instigate IMMEDIATE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST YOU.

    (I’m trying hard not to laugh at this point)

    Subject to judgement and the rules of the courtour client may then be entitled to costs, fees and interests and to take any of the following relevant actions against you:

    1. ATTACH your GOODS, such as furniture and property and have them sold in execution.

    (now forgive me for being picky but – ATTACH my goods to what? and sell them in execution? don’t you mean AUCTION? what are you going to do – shoot my sofa at dawn??)

    2. Initiate proceedings to obtain a WINDING UP ORDER against you and/or ontain a court order for a DIRECTORS EXAMINATION.

    3. Seek an order against you which will ATTACH ANY MONIES that may be due to you from other sources.

    4. ISSUE A STATUTORY NOTICE TO HAVE YOUR COMPANY WOUND UP AND LIQUIDATED.

    Sorry for any spelling mistakes reader – trying so hard not to laugh.

    So thats it. The address to send the payment too:

    103 Imperial Court, Exchange Street East, Liverpool L3 2AB.

    No company name – funny that.

    Now then I would like to know just what Trading Standards are doing about this because in my book this is now harassment and potentially attempting to obtain money with menaces – which is illegal.

    If they do not do anything about this – well I am going to set up one of these dodgy companies and scam people like this because it seems that there is a lot of money to be made with no consequence. Trading standards have no power and the police cannot be bothered.

    Of course I won’t though because I have some morals…

20. 

    Rebecca Commons March 27th, 2010 at 12:53

    Hi all,

    Just Like Robert I also recieved a lovely letter from “Business debt recovery” this morning. However mine stated;

    “Reference number FL-3097″

    We are writing to inform you this account has now been passed to ourselves.

    An applicaton will be forwarded to the magistrates Counrt as a consequence of non payment of the outstanding amount.

    If a claim is issued, court fees and legal costs will be added.

    If a judgement is made against you, your name and address may be entered into a register of county court judgements which may remain for up to a six year period.

    This may make it difficult to obtain credit in the near future.

    To prevent this action from being taken payment must be recieved within the next 7 days.

    Make all cheques payable to BLUELINE PUBLICATIONS”

    Again like Robert I also did some research into the company and drew a blank – in fact the only business I could find registered to that address was a vitamin company which is no longer trading.

    I have managed to stumble accross the following websites though if anyone is interested?

    http://bluelinepeublicationsliverpool.blogspot.com/2010/03/blueline-publications-liverpool.html

    As for me, I will be happily ignoring my debt collection letter, if they want to take me to court then fine, we’ll see who comes out better off…….

21. 

    Phil Talbot March 30th, 2010 at 13:15

    After numerous calls from Nathan Stone and a copy of Frontline magazine I almost sent a cheque, feeling a little guilty that I’d doubted the credibility of Blueline Publications, and reported them to Trading Standards. Fortunately this feeling didn’t last long and I came to my senses before making payment.

    Similarly to Robert and Rebecca I have today received an “IMPORTANT NOTICE” from Business Debt Recovery, on behalf of Blueline Publications.

    Do Trading Standards have the power to do anything about this?? I’m sure they’ve been reported by plenty of people, so how can this go on for so long…

22. 

    Robert Davies March 30th, 2010 at 14:50

    To Rebecca: the blog you mention is mine.
    I set it up to get the word out about this scum.
    They really need to be stopped and all money seized.
    They are using tried and tested bully boy antics to try and pressure hard working folks like us into thinking ‘oh well its only 60 quid’ and pay them just to get them off your back.
    Consider this – if someone came up to you in the street and asked you to give them 60 quid would you?
    For those receiving these ‘red’ letters i’ve heard that the next tactic is to send you a court summons application – they will say that it is a court summons, which of course it is not.
    To clarify to get a court order against someone is a process that must be followed.

    you are sent a letter from the court (who you can speak to) to advise you of a hearing that will take place at a certain time and date

    you can attend this hearing and defend yourself and put your points across – you do not need a lawyer

    if the court finds in your favour they award you any costs (travel, time)

    if they find in favour of the other person you can appeal

    only then can you get a court order (CCJ) against you.

    the people (or person) at Blueline Publications are just using intimidation.

    IGNORE THEM I AM.

    I hope nathan stone calls me again. i need a laugh.

23. 

    Martin Long April 2nd, 2010 at 11:30

    This scam is now operating in Ireland as well. The caller’s number appears as ‘unavailable’ on caller id which probably means it is coming from outside of Ireland and the caller has an English accent. Calls are currently being made to parish churches with essentially the same message and looking for money for the advert.

24. 

    Michael Kenny April 2nd, 2010 at 15:36

    Please send me on any information if you can it will help me
    Michael Kenny

25. 

    Anne Taylor April 4th, 2010 at 17:03

    I am so grateful to Robert Davies and everyone else who has provided information regarding Blueline Publications. My son, who started his own business last year, has been well and truly scammed, I am sure, by quite a number of advertising agencies, all based in and around Liverpool ironically and from what he told me about their conversations I think they must all use the same recording to con decent working people out of their hard earned money. Unfortunately some have been paid but there are still some who have not received anything and will not either.
    A call from the infamous Mr. Nathan Stone chasing payment set me thinking when he said he had sent proof of the advert by email on 19 February but said he could not send it again. He then asked for a fax number to send the invoice. He can threaten all he likes but unless we get a CCJ issued against the company he won’t see a penny. Likewise a letter, undated, received a few days ago from Business Debt Recovery for an advert placed in the Fire Prevention Magazine will get the same treatment.

26. 

    Andrea Robertson April 6th, 2010 at 11:47

    Thanks Robert for bringing this to our attention. I have an invoice for nearly 200 which they are chasing me to pay. After reading your comments I will not give them a penny. When they first phoned I told them I hadn’t worked for months due to personal reasons and I had no money but they reduced the amount from 800 to 200 and by the end of the call I said “ok then” just to get them off the phone, little did I know it would cause loads of calls demanding money. They said today they only started this year and have issued one publication that is why no-one in my area has seen it???

27. 

    R T April 7th, 2010 at 14:38

    Yeah, another one here! I’m in a similar predicament now. I’ve sought advice from Consumer Direct and i’ve posted a letter. This blog was a great help by the way. I hope it doesn’t come down to needing a solicitor, but if it does, i’m confident i’ll win in the end. I just feel so bloody stupid to have entered into it in the first place. I should have known better! Hope you all get sorted. Wish me luck. Regards.

28. 

    R T April 8th, 2010 at 17:38

    This company was apparently ‘Blueline Publications’ by the way, supposedly based at Trident House, 31-33 Dale Street, Liverpool. Although it would seem that some people have physically checked the premises and found that they are resident there at all!

29. 

    Emma April 9th, 2010 at 15:55

    Hi Guys,

    I have a new business and have had this scam pulled about 8 times! i paid out of fear a number of occasions, does anyone know how i can start to get my money back!

    Emma

30. 

    Emma April 9th, 2010 at 16:14

    I would like to also say i have recieved one from the liverpool mob that is discussed by robert davis above!

    Please someone help!

31. 

    johnathan graves May 1st, 2010 at 02:23

    02:19

    Had a call today from a guy named David williams Supposingly calling on behalf of the police thanking me for past support in there police magazine. I say to this scammer when was this and how did u get my name and number and he says your wife. Had to put the phone down as my wife past away 2 years ago and colleagues of mine say there have been around 15 calls from them trying to gain support in the past 2 weeks. TO PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO MAY GET A CALL OR HEAR ABOUT IT POST IT ON HERE OR REPORT IT TO YOUR LOCAL POLICE WITH THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE, THE MORE WE GET POSTED ON HERE THE MORE CHANCE OF GETTING RID OF THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL.

    p.s- tell your friends, family then everyone won’t ever fall for it, I really feel sorry for peoples hard earned money going on false advertising scams when lots of legitimate charities are losing out.

32. 

    Tony May 1st, 2010 at 10:04

    I had a call from someone with a liverpool accent claiming to be from East Sussex Police, I have recieved an invoice for payment for an ad in a magazine called frontline. I am sending a letter recorded delivery asking for proof of publication and circulation… I have informed the Police, and Consumer Direct

33. 

    Alex May 12th, 2010 at 14:48

    I had a phone call yesterday from some guy with a Liverpool accent claiming I agreed to an advert in a magazine in November.I told him I made no such agreement and they were not getting the £299 they said i owed.They then reduced the price to £120 but said non payment would result in a bill for £499.I told them they could go and whistle unless they could produce a signed agreement.
    Today I receive a call from someone claiming to be from a debt collection agency…my wife takes the call and asks what its in regard to…they say they are calling on behalf of the magazine who i now apparently owe £699 to.Then they tell her menacingly ‘tell Mr .J… we are going to pay him a visit’…to which she replied ‘Fine ,bring the paperwork with you.’
    I’m considering phoning the police as I now regard this to be harassment and it’s obviously a scam but the number was witheld so if they phone again I’ll try and extract some info….

34. 

    Tony May 23rd, 2010 at 15:29

    I had an interesting version of this scam.

    I was called by a legitimate sounding business who offered to send out a totally free trial offer of something.

    When it came there was a proforma invoice for whatever the service was.

    In tiny letters at the bottom was a small notice that if we were not interested then we could cancel the invoice BUT would have to pay a cancellation fee of about £13.

    I posted it back noting that it had been sent to me free and that I was not going to pay their “cancellation fee”.

    later I had a genuine debt collection company contact be about it and I eventually got to speak to some kind of supervisor to whom I explained that they were acting for a dishonest company and it would bring their firm into disrepute if they continues with them. I heard nothing more!

35. 

    Sue May 25th, 2010 at 10:43

    I was called this morning form a very over-familiar man calling himself James who told me that I had agreed, during a phone call he had made to me in January, to advertise in a crime prevention booklet. As I very rarely advertise I questioned this – and for a moment thought I must have had a serious ’senior moment’. When James told me that I had agreed to a payment of £149 (including VAT!) I knew I had had no moments of forgetfulness. I very rarely advertise, and only in targeted publications. I was very clear with James that I had not agreed to this, and to remove any copy (where from, not supplied from me) from this booklet. And put down phone.

    Then found your web site.

    So beware, Crime Prevention Booklet scam live and active!

36. 

    Andy May 25th, 2010 at 13:32

    Just took a call from a dim-sounding chap named ‘Adam Jones’ on behalf of the police thanking me for advertising in the crime prevention booklet. I said we hadn’t. When pressed he admitted he was calling from The Blue Line on behalf of the ‘local police force’ about the Crime Prevention Booklet. When I asked for the name of his contact at the ‘local police’ I was met with stunned silence for a few seconds until he abruptly hung up! Result! We record calls here so I’ve just saved the audio file and am using it as my new PC startup chime!

37. 

    Jeremy Woods May 27th, 2010 at 11:30

    It goes on! I had a similar call from Blue Line referring to a similar previous conversation regarding advertising and have ended up with an invoice from this mythical company. As it will not be paid (no order number for a start) I will be interested to see what happens but I do not take calls form “Withheld” numbers!

    It does make you wonder why Trading Standards people do not act on these scams.

38. 

    L.P May 27th, 2010 at 23:35

    I recieved a call from a company in Manchester.
    Saying the same as everyone else that it was regarding a crime prevention booklet advertisement i’d agreed to. I recieved the invoice for £149,which i sent a cheque .
    A few months later i recieved a phone call saying the balance was outstanding so i chequed with my bank and the cheque had not been cashed and i put a stop to it.
    After various phone calls from the debt recovery department i thought i should pay the outstanding balance via my debit card.
    (Big mistake) On the 8/5/10 they took
    £175.08 then on 15/5/10 they took £149.
    I rang to find why the additional £175.08 was taken and was told that it could of been a error.
    Alarm bells started to ring and i cancelled my card.
    I tried contacting this company but there phone number does not exist,
    Fortunateley my wife wrote down the number for the debt recovery company,which when i contacted them they tried to give me the run around.
    I eventually lost it with this scum bag and but hte phone down,within 10 mins i was contactede by the director of Start Bright Solution (apparently) saying he would look into this and call be back.
    I am going to contact this person tomorrow to see what he has to say(but as we all know i wil get no where).
    I just hope that these scum get what they deserve because if i ever ran into them i would have pleasure in breaking evey bone in there body for what they do to good people tha think they are helping a good cause…

39. 

    Adam May 29th, 2010 at 18:26

    I get quite a few calls from people claiming to be the ‘local police’ got him a good one last week by asking ‘which constabulary’ phone hangs up. Similar happened the following day, something to do with a police calendar, just laughed my ass off down the phone.

    I’m currently at the ‘Final Notice’ stage with blueline publications who seem to think i owe them £205.63, looks like letters and calls from business debt recovery will soon be on their way. Ahh well, keeps the Royal Mail up and running, shame about all those poor trees!
    When the calls start I might just have a laugh and keep insisting that i’ve paid them, give them the runaround.

40. 

    johnathan graves May 30th, 2010 at 01:27

    If they ring me again i will try force a fart down the phone and say stop talking a load of s***.

41. 

    Martin Peters June 2nd, 2010 at 13:08

    I’ve been caught out by these scammers in the past but have got wise to their tactics now and give them short shrift. Does anyone know if there’s a legitimate, definitive list of ‘companies’ pulling these scams? Also, i’m getting pressed for payment for a ‘regional wallplanner’ from a company. They even sent me a copy…. I don’t know what region they’re thinking of as I’m based in Cardiff and there are ads on the planner from as far afield as Stourbridge, Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth and Llandudno!!! Is anyone out there being hassled by these crooks?

42. 

    Julie Rogers June 3rd, 2010 at 10:23

    Myself and a business neighbour received calls within 15 minutes of each other along the same format as most of you above. I tagged on that it was a scam and have investigated it further. They are currenty renting serviced offices at 40 Citibase, 40 Princess Street Manchester – if anyone is interested. I have also spoken to a friend who is in the police, who advises that we all should just quote the “Harrassment Act” to them which should make them go away, apparently. Obviously not for long enough though! It seems we have to be vigilant and take care of the situation ourselves.

43. 

    JDs June 3rd, 2010 at 14:51

    We received a letter which requested payment for an adevert including our company name which was to be published in the “Crime Prevention Magazine”. We were told we had previously supported this charity.

    on closer inspection the letter head was shabby, no contact number, not a legitimate VAT number etc.

    We called the company and told them we would not be paying the invoice becasue we had ‘Googled’ them and they were a scam. We were asked if we would like to talk to the Director at which point we said no, were just not paying it!……the guy hung up.

    This is a scam! After research they look as if they were originally set up in Canada.

    I’m with Jonathan Graves force farting!!!!

44. 

    Chris June 4th, 2010 at 13:27

    A company, suggesting that they are calling on behalf of the ‘National Crime Prevention Council’, are cold calling people with the scenarios as descibed above…’we recently spoke to you, and you supported our last campaign etc’
    They are operating out of Room 503, Cotton Exchange, Liverpool, L3 9LQ

45. 

    M And L Electrical June 6th, 2010 at 18:40

    Had a call from the copmany blueline publications trying to charge me £88 for a ad in the police booklet which i never agreed to i have asked for a copy of the agreement yet to revieve it.

46. 

    Honeybee June 11th, 2010 at 09:50

    I used to work for one of these outfits. I even know some of the names of people mentioned above. Ofcourse it’s a scam. Is this stuff still going on? I was working for one of the fraudsters about 8years ago.

47. 

    Robert Davies June 23rd, 2010 at 08:54

    Well, nothing to report since my communice’ from the nice chaps at Blueline Publications.
    Looks like they have given up.
    A message to anyone else here who is being hassled for money by this scum:

    1. DO NOT give them ANY bank or card details or ANY personal details.

    2. If you can RECORD ALL telephone conversations.

    3. Get names and addresses of the people calling you. Genuine businesses will have no issue with passing you this information.

    4. DON’T be intimidated. They WILL try and bully you – just remember YOU have the upper hand.

    5. If you are not sure about paying them or agreed to pay or place an advert let them take you to court. Even if they do (which is unlikely) ask them to provide the following information in court:

    Circulation figures for their publications recognised by a trade body.

    Invoices for printing, design etc.

    Names of their printers, designers etc.

    Addresses that the publication has been delivered to. You should then contact these addresses to ensure delivery.

    The court will see straight through this scam and award you costs and you will have nothing to pay. Hold your head high.

    This is a tried and tested scam that works like this:

    Person contacts you asking would you like to place an advert in a police/fire/ambulance safety wallplanner/leaflet/magazine promising you that it will be delivered to xx,xxx homes in your local area.

    They offer you a price which they then knock down considerably to make it look like they are helping you and doing you a favour.

    If you ask them for proof before payment they send you a copy of the wallplanner/leaflet/magazine (they will have a few knocked up).

    You then think everything is ok and pay.

    In reality the wallplanner/leaflet/magazine will never be delivered to any homes, and the advertisements will never happen. You have really paid for nothing.

    Hopefully this will be the last time I post here (should I not hear from Blueline Publications), so good look to everyone here!

48. 

    admin June 23rd, 2010 at 11:17

    Thank You Robert,

    Some really good advice there.

    I hope you dont hear from them again.

    From the comments and emails on the site recently, I think there is a spike in new companies jumping on board the scam wagon.
    I have heard 2 new company names recently and also, some companies pretending to be from scam companies that have been shut down! (odd)

    Adscams

49. 

    Stuart D July 2nd, 2010 at 10:54

    Same as Andy on 25th May above,just had Benjamin Whitworth from Blueline on the phone with the same word-for-word spiel that you get from all of these Merseyside/’Cheshire’ based companies. “I’m calling on behalf of your local police force… nothing to worry about hahaha… thanking you for your support with last years advert!”

    Accused him of being a scammer, had a bit of banter for a minute or so while he tried to defend himself and I quizzed him about his company…. then, as they all do in the end, he bottled it and hung up!

50. 

    kara July 3rd, 2010 at 10:16

    HI we are a new business, and have just fell for this crime prevention magazine scam,
    We thought it was a proper company obviously not after reading all the above stories.

    I think they have changed there name as this company we got a phone call from was just set up in 2010.

    iplmedia.co.uk we paid with our credit card the sum of 133.00 they offered 10% discount if we paid there and then giving us a 1/4 of a page of advertising which we thought was great price.

    They then send you an email to log into to view your advertisemnet you agree to it then they will put in the crime prevention magazine.

    I am guessing we will not ever get to see a copy of this magazine as it seems it dosent even exist.

    We are repoting to the police in liverpool as this is where this company is based, having to put a stop on our credt card.

    This will teach us a big lesson!!

51. 

    John Nisbet July 7th, 2010 at 09:45

    We recieved several pushy sales calles from Blueline Pulications trying to sell 1/4 page ad’s for Frontline Magazine. We asked them to send quote, which they have at a price of £346.63. Once quote was recieved we checked out company and came across this scam information. The company is listed on Companies House with very little information and there is no web-site for Blueline or Frontline. Please beware, they are very convincing.

52. 

    sugarpaste July 11th, 2010 at 19:25

    i have had the call this week never picked the phone up as i dont do unknown numbers but have saved the message he left again as most of you liverpool man called himself david lloyd calling on behalf of local police force nothing to worry about then goes on to say about the crime prevention mag thats coming out in about 6 weeks and that they are in our area at the moment and through the guverment they have to include local buis so if advertising is what we are looking for then to call him , so will be reporting it first thing tomorrow .

53. 

    Phil July 19th, 2010 at 11:57

    Hi.

    I left a message on here a few months back when I was called by one of these fictional publishing companies who almost conned me into buying some advertising space. Since then I have had about 5 calls, all of which I have been told to “F**k off” at the end of. One of which was 2 days ago.

    The same guy (with a Stoke accent) called me this morning with the same script. “Hello I’m Graham from the Police. I’m just calling to thankyou for agreeing to support us by purchasing some advertising space etc”.

    On this occassion I decided to go along with it. I did say that I wasn’t formally confirming anything over the phone (not that they will take any notice of that). In addition I have not and will not be providing any payment (didn’t tell them that bit of course).
    The guy even asked me if next time he is in my local area I would take him out for a pint after the superb deal he has given me!

    When this first happened I was unaware of these scams and became suspicious after doing a Google search for the publishing company in question. I then contacted the real Police and they told me they have never heard of the publication. They also told me they do not call people to sell advertising.

    I have had enough of this abuse and this time I’m going to give them a taste of it. I have no fear of any legal comeback from this fraudulent operation so I’m going to let them send out as many advert proofs and threatening letters as possible without response. When they do call me up, I’m going to tell them to F**k off!

    Immature – yes ok maybe a bit, but anyone who is receiving these calls over and over will agree with me that it becomes pretty tiresome. What annoys me the most is being sworn at and having the phone slammed down for asking simple questions.

    Yours angrily,
    Phil

54. 

    Becky July 22nd, 2010 at 10:18

    I feel so stupid, I’ve got been got by these scammers.

    They called yesterday with their usual spiel and I thought it sounded really good, so I said I was interested.

    They just called again this morning for payment and I stupidly paid
    Not sure why I did as I was thinking should I or shouldn’t I. I guess it was the offer of 10% off and I’m a new business so any money I can save helps.
    I’ve called my bank to try and cancel the transaction but I’ve got to call back next week as they can’t do anything about it at the moment.
    I feel like such an idiot I’m usually pretty wise to these kind of things.

55. 

    Ronnie July 22nd, 2010 at 12:58

    lol I just had a call thanking us for supporting the crime prevention mag etc. As the Director’s out of office, the chap is apparently calling back on Monday.
    Any messages from any of you to pass on? lol

56. 

    Danielle August 4th, 2010 at 11:16

    Anyone know if there is any way of getting money back, these scammers have got my Husband twice now and are thretening to take even more money from his account!
    It concerns me that so many people have been contacted & conned and yet there is nothing / no one on here who has sucessfully recovered their lost money or who has even taken these A Holes down. (

57. 

    sue August 10th, 2010 at 00:28

    i have had 2 phone calls from j r media and wilson haines i paid wilson 400 then stared to get call off jr media i phoned trading standard told them about it tryed phoning the scams and its a answer phone i am not pay the other 349 they can go and play on the m6 i am phoneing the police tomorrow

58. 

    sue August 10th, 2010 at 00:32

    wilson haines i send 4 post dated cheques i have cancelled 3 off them haha

59. 

    sue August 10th, 2010 at 11:44

    i phoned the police j r meadia is a scam wilson haines is not they are registered

60. 

    Pat August 17th, 2010 at 13:37

    It’s obviously peak season for these scams. In recent months we have received several of these calls. Crime Prevention – Drug and Alcohol Abuse Awareness and a Fire and Safety Desk Dairy. I have even been directed to a website, (I have to say, very convincing) this showed a list of schools in our area that are supported by this particular scheme or should I say scam. By chance the first one on the list has, I know closed down!

    These people have clearly done some research on our Website, targeting and asking by name for our key people (busy and likely to say yes, when told they have previously agreed!).

    We too have experienced the chummy friendly, you are so kind and generous approach only to be followed by you F***ing bitch and a slam of the phone.

    Sadly when this was reported to the Police they didn’t want to know – even though the Crime Prevention Magazine clearly displays a Police person on horse-back.

    No-one should feel stupid or gullible, these are very clever individuals preying on decent people.

    Does anyone else feel that their names are on some sort of list?

61. 

    sarah August 24th, 2010 at 13:31

    I can not beleive the nerve of these people. The telephone conversation that i received from someone this morning was very polite and he seemed to no exactly what he was talking about, but when he told me that someone had placed the order on 07/07/2010 and told me that persons name then i became suspicious because that person hasn’t worked for us for nearly 2 years. The gentlemen on the phone then called me a F—ing Bitch once i questioned him and then a dirty Slag.

    Surely the police must realise that these people are using there name to make profit , but yet its us hard working people that get no help from the police!!!!

    So where does that leave the hard working folk???????????? Now where because the police obviously are not interested so its left to us mere mortals to deal with it.

    As you can read i am so angry that these wastes of space get away scott free and our names must be on all kinds of lists.

    Surely something as gotto be done.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

62. 

    Corinne August 24th, 2010 at 21:03

    Just got a call off one of these men today. Followed up by another call asking if my address and post code was still the same!! I had not given anyone these details so was a bit uneasy. did not agree to anything, but I still expect an invoice after reading your comments here. Thanks for the info, it will save me paying for what looks like a Good Deal!! If anyone is interested the phone number he rang off was 0151 236 8057.
    Maybe we should all ring it and give THEM hassle

63. 

    rachel August 26th, 2010 at 14:17

    Hi there. I run a pub in sheffield and have had the same thing happen to me from blue line publications. ive paid them once but still getting letters demanding 345 quid. ive told them to balls!!! i had a call this morning from a childrens charity saying id placed the ad back in june and that they can not stop the publication again told her its scam and that i would never agree to this as i dont have the money to advertise. thanks to all the peeps that have put information on this site. i wont be paying anything to them xx

64. 

    Robert Davies August 30th, 2010 at 11:41

    OK so I thought that these wastes of skin had forgotten about me – not that I am too bothered anyway – but alas they must be bored so they send me another letter , red border looks dead official (laugh) demanding that I pay them monies or my goods will be ‘executed’ and stating that they already have a court order.

    Laugh again.

    Perhaps I should write to them and ask for a copy of this mystery court order that I have heard nothing about.

    I love it – every letter they send me I just add to my dossier, which is getting quite thick now.

    Wonder whats next? Feels nice to be wanted.

    I have some monopoly money spare thinking of posting it to them along with a cheque signed M. Mouse counter signed by S.Claus.

    To anyone on here worried by these scum – don’t be!

    The VERY best thing would be for them to apply to a court to issue a small claims against you. The court people judge both sides (it’s all very informal and not scary at all – unfortunately I have a few experiences of small claims courts bad payers etc.) and then the court make a common sense judgment about who gets paid and who dosen’t.

    Anyone with half a brain cell can see that these guys at blueline publications are scammers – and do you REALLY think that this scum would turn up at a court?

    Let the demands keep coming and just ignore them. When they ring try to get as MUCH information about them as you can and if possible record the call. Just let them know that you are recording the call first!

    These people are just trying it on and will attempt to bully you into making payment.

    DO NOT PAY ANYTHING, ASK FOR PROOF OF CIRCULATION FROM A RECOGNISED GOVERNMENT BODY, DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY PERSONAL DETAILS OR PAYMENT DETAILS, ASK FOR COPIES OF INVOICES FROM PRINTERS AND CONTACT THE PRINTERS

    YOU owe them NOTHING, YOU have CONTROL.

    They are not a publishing company, they have no website and people have even visited their ‘offices’ which are empty.

    Fear not, what comes around goes around, these guys will get their collars felt soon.

65. 

    Derek (Primary School Principal) September 2nd, 2010 at 11:41

    I was telephoned by Michael Tomklinson from Blue Line stating that we were due ‘Thank-You’ certicates relating to our participation Crime Prevention programme. They required £155 for advertising purposes!

    Having read some of the comments above, and as a Principal of a Primary School, it appears that anyone is fair game for this scam! They are persistent though – that was three calls this morning just to get to speak to me!

    Have been in touch with my community police officer so I’m looking forward to them ringing back again!

66. 

    Kay September 8th, 2010 at 11:56

    Sounds like I had the same guy as Phil!

    Called ‘Graham’ but with a strong scouse accent, and offered to buy me a drink next time he was in my area! Cheeky git.

    Said I’d agreed to advertising with them in May for £195 + VAT. Know damn well I hadn’t – already had 2 similar companies try it in April, so knew the drill.

    He then rang back to offer me a ‘reduced’ price which had been cleared with his boss (they do try hard don’t they), to which I lost my temper and said I’d never agreed to it and told him he was a scouse scamming b******. He then said ‘he didn’t want my money’ as I’d accused him of being a scammer for no good reason!!

    Unfortunately they have my home phone number and address from some of my advertising on Yell.com – that’s the only place. So I’m now waiting for the threatening legal letters and phone calls to start. They can try, but are not going to get anywhere!

    Was from the same number as Corrine stated: 01512 361846