Note, one of the questions commonly asked is "Are you authorized to make company decisions?" Still at this point, the questions are vague and seem normal in the course of verifying company information is accurate.
Yellow pages logo series#
However, at this point, unknown to you, the caller has turned on a recording device and begins to ask a rapid series of "Yes" or "No" questions, recording your voice.
Yellow pages logo free#
The conversation seems to be innocent enough and after all, their opening statement clearly leaves one with the impression they just want to verify your free listing is accurate. The person on the other end explains that they are from the "Yellow Pages" and just need to verify a few pieces of information regarding your "free" business listing in the Yellow Pages for renewal purposes. It's a normal business day, just like any other, and you or your staff answers the phone. Part 1 - The friendly 'cold call' - In the Fraud triangle we call this OPPORTUNITY which is defined in a scam as the initial solicitation by the offender in regards to their potential victims. I will refer to these below as I explain how this scam evolves. The Fraud Triangle consists of these 3 components, Opportunity, Rationalization and Pressure, all of which are very present in this Yellow Pages scam. Scam operations are successful if they have the right components in place, which we often refer to as the "Fraud Triangle". However folks, I assure you, these scammers are not operating out of an office on the 26th floor of the grandest building in New York City! These scammers start out strong out of the gate by attempting to deceptively establish a front of a huge, legitimate business operation.
The address alone is impressive and for those of you that are not aware, this is the very home of the New York Times headquarters and several other very prestigious businesses. The company address listed on the fraudulent invoices we reviewed, reflect the business address of 405 Lexington Ave, The Chrysler Building, Floor 26, NY, NY 10174. While there may be several of these scams going on, most the business complaints we reviewed are referring to a group operating as "Public Yellow Pages" out of New York City. What we know about the most recent operation is from hundreds of business owner complaints coming in from the past 6 months.
Because of this, scammers can easily create fictitious invoices, websites, email signatures, and publications using the Yellow Pages name and logo. The "walking" Yellow Pages fingers logo, we are all so familiar with, is actually not a trademarked symbol. This scam operates in several variations, however, most commonly used by the scammers pretending to be part of the real Yellow Pages. However, the Yellow Pages scam is like a relentless parasite and continues to surface as recently as this week. As recently as this summer, the news was littered with stories of the FTC's successful shut down of a major Yellow Pages scam operation that evolved to the US out of Canada and Australia. I have researched countless articles and stories going back years regarding the FTC's investigations and shut down of these Yellow Page scam operations. While this is not a new scam, it is by far one of the most persistent that continues to resurface and plague small business owners.
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