Another Scam? Singapore Business Pages

• scarborough

  24 Jan 08, 09:59

  You are not alone at all .... I have most of the victims' contact. If they take action on you, they are dam stupid.
  
  One of us have decided to take action against them ... heh heh it is their pay back time
  
  

  Originally posted by newsurf:

  wat a mistake i made for trusting the word SINGAPORE as stated in bold & bigger fonts.
  
  it makes me feel scared of my own country. and it has been weeks i do not have good nights sleep. i'm gonna take this as a lesson learnt .. whenever i see the word SINGAPORE, i better be very extra cautious.
  
  reputation for YP is not good either, i mistake that as YP's logo. and assumed that they are probably updating our company particulars for the year 2008's business contact publication. well, i received it towards end of Nov 2007 & was blindly "instructed" to check, correct & fax back by a designated date.
  
  unscrupulous way of making $$ like that cannot be tolerated, i want & must bring this case to a wider awareness out there.
  
  My company is small & i run it alone. If u want my $$, i'm prepared to go to jail if this matter can bring up to a "higher level" of attention.
  
  please include me.
  
  contacts & information will be given. Please also update me the neccesary information of the ongoing fight.
  
  

• gotcheated

  25 Jan 08, 21:54

  scarborough till now u refuse to pay then did they call you up or send you lawyer letter? what if they really sue you? aiyo worth it a nt?
  
  maybe if i don't have kids and family i might join you. but then i got too much things to worry about. then how about the rest? all also never pay? can share?
  
  by the way how you get the contract? you really going to take action against them? if they lose can get my money back? erm...don't need to take all back la..abit i also happy...life is really tough after i paid the fees.
  
  hopefully someone can help me take alittle of my money back.
  
  
• hisoka

  22 Feb 08, 11:16

  So this matter settled yet? and How?
• Wehavemoney

  27 Feb 08, 22:08

  Hi,
  A new company is launching in March. Here's a chance to be one of the pioneers of this new company!!!
  As all should know, people who usually earn the most money in the company are the pioneers!

  USD$3000 to join. Payout of 10% weekly, which means only 10 weeks to recover capital!!!
  Payment up to 9 times the invested amount.

  For people who refers and does the business, compensation plan is at average of 20%!!!

  Interested? Pls contact me at [email protected]

   

• scarborough

  12 Mar 08, 17:23

  Wel, no news about them recently, may be the company is dead!!!

• scarborough

  12 Mar 08, 17:24

  Originally posted by Wehavemoney:

  Hi,
  A new company is launching in March. Here's a chance to be one of the pioneers of this new company!!!
  As all should know, people who usually earn the most money in the company are the pioneers!

  USD$3000 to join. Payout of 10% weekly, which means only 10 weeks to recover capital!!!
  Payment up to 9 times the invested amount.

  For people who refers and does the business, compensation plan is at average of 20%!!!

  Interested? Pls contact me at [email protected]

   

  
  Another scam! pls go away

• scarborough

  13 Mar 08, 15:24

  They have moved their office in Singapore and Hong Kong, The main tel no and fax have changed too. I wonder if this is their deliberate strategy to hide something
• TS Kan

  17 Mar 08, 10:47

   

  Good news for everybody affected by these crooks! See the Straits Times today. They published there their official apology to Yellow Pages (Singapore) Limited for having infringed their copyright in the Yellow Pages directories and undertake not to commit any further infringement of the copyright in the Yellow Pages directories. Yellow Pages took our advice and sued them ..... as a result this apology. But, they are being let off lightly. Sh continue to sue them until they are bankrupt and then wind them up.

• scarborough

  19 Mar 08, 11:05

  THE STRAITS TIMES MONDAY, MARCH 17 2008 PUBLIC APOLOGY We, ASIAN BUSINESS DIRECTORIES PTE LTD, are the publishers of a directory called "Singapore Business Pages" and' we, ASIAN BUSINESS DIRECTORIES PTE LTD, hereby unreservedly and sincerely apologise to Yellow Pages (Singapore) Limited for having infringed their copyright in the Yellow Pages directories. We undertake not to commit any further infringement of the copyright in the Yellow Pages directories. We, ASIAN BUSINESS DIRECTORIES PTE LTD, declare that we are absolutely unrelated and not connected in any way whatsoever to Yellow Pages (Singapore) Limited. Yellow Pages (Singapore) Limited are the official publishers of the Singapore Yellow Pages and the Singapore Business Listings. We have no connection whatsoever with the Singapore Yellow Pages and the Singapore Business Listings. Christian Hamoeller Director Asian Business Directories Pte Ltd
• scarborough

  19 Mar 08, 11:40

  Singapore Yellow Pages should tell the public the actual infrigement as most of the victims were mislead by Asian Business Directories that they are Singapore Yellow Pages
• TS Kan

  19 Mar 08, 20:42

  The owners of this con company are foreigners. But the actual day-to-day activities are carried out by Singaporeans .... there is a local being a director of the company and other office staff manning the office. Are these Singaporeans so desperate for a job in booming Singapore that they willingly become tools of these foreign con artists conning fellow Singaporeans?

   

  If the names of these Singaporeans can be shown here  ...... I am sure fellow forummers will want to know who they are so as to shame them.

• scarborough

  19 Mar 08, 22:59

  I wonder if the GM, Benjamin and the Customer Service Manager Belle still there?

  Originally posted by TS Kan:

  The owners of this con company are foreigners. But the actual day-to-day activities are carried out by Singaporeans .... there is a local being a director of the company and other office staff manning the office. Are these Singaporeans so desperate for a job in booming Singapore that they willingly become tools of these foreign con artists conning fellow Singaporeans?

   

  If the names of these Singaporeans can be shown here  ...... I am sure fellow forummers will want to know who they are so as to shame them.

  
  
• scarborough

  20 Mar 08, 13:24

  http://www.yp.com.hk/event/e-DM/20070717/index_e.htm Hong Kong Yellow Pages Letter
• laurence82

  21 Mar 08, 09:00

  on today's ST Home pages

• TS Kan

  21 Mar 08, 20:34

  This is indeed 'poetic' justice! These bastards (including a few Singaporeans in their employ) after conning people threaten legal actions if their victims do not pay up. Now they are sued themselves and apologised in the Straits Times .... the public apology costing them S$7,500 plus legal fees. Look like we have found their 'archile's heel' ....... they want to stay in business to collect money from those timid victims that settle with them so they will settle if sued. So all affected by these bastards sh join together to sue them until kingdom come.

• redstone

  21 Mar 08, 20:51

  Pure cheating tactics... Should sue them to pay everyone who they threatened to sue.

  So where's their phonebook?

• scarborough

  24 Mar 08, 09:43

  Yes, The time has come for a payback They do have a directory printed, may be that is why the infirnged Yellow Pages copyright?

  Originally posted by redstone:

  Pure cheating tactics... Should sue them to pay everyone who they threatened to sue.

  So where's their phonebook?

  
  
• scarborough

  24 Mar 08, 10:29

  THE STRAITS TIMES FRIDAY, MARCH 21 2008 BY SHOBANA KESAVA Businesses claim they were duped by firm's ad mailer Unhappy at having to pay for ads, they say ABD's document was too similar to Yellow Pages' THE document in the mail asked her to check that her beauty salon's address' was correct. Madam W.C. Yeo, 52, faxed back her reply, thinking she was saying yes to a cost free Yellow Pages listing. • :! She did not realise her reply would be taken as an arrangement to buy a full-page advertisement in the Asian Business Directories (ABD) and to pay $4,700 for it. She is among those who feel duped by the ABD document, which looked like it came from Yellow Pages. At least 53 complaints have been lodged with the Consumers Association of Singapore and the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore since ABD's registration in mid-2005. Recipients of both ABD and Yellow Pages mailers point to their similarities: Both company logos feature a yellow square framing an icon of an open book; both ask for the company's listed details to be updated by fax or mail; and both mailers display the deadline prominently. The difference is that ABD runs its ad rates in fine print, while the Yellow Pages offers listings for free. The latter charges only for its display ads. On Monday, ABD published in this newspaper a public apology to the Yellow pages for copyright infringement and declared that it had no links to the 41-year-old listed company. The quarter-page notice cost it $7,862. When approached, ABD’s assistant general manager Benjamin Koh said the Apology was worded according to Yellow Pages' wishes. He declined to elaborate on ABD's discussions with the Yellow Pages that led to the placing of the notice, but denied that his company was trying to pass itself off as the Yellow Pages. He said the logos "have so much difference" between them, and noted that ABD was getting only 90 complaints a month about mistaken identity, which pales against the 30,000 mailers it sends out every month. Yellow Pages marketing communications manager Sharon Liew said her company was satisfied with the apology and that the matter was dosed. Meanwhile, Madam Yeo has been told she has been locked into paying for the ABD ad. She said she had explained that she could barely read English and that she had mistaken ABD for the Yellow Pages. But she was told that since the contract was binding, she could choose to take out a smaller $950 ad for $850, payable in two instalments. She has made one payment, but feels resentful. She said: "They were firm and the letter said that it's contractual and legally binding. I didn't want too much trouble, so I took up the ad, but it s a very unethical way of doing business." Sino Chemical's manager Chang Sieh Yong, 47, has refused to pay up. He said the ABD document required a faxed response within "a very short time", and he acted quickly because there were factual errors about Sinko that he did not want to see in print. A copy of the document obtained by this newspaper gave a deadline of three weeks. A check online uncovered complaints against ABD on sgforum.com; a notice posted last July by Hong Kong's Commercial Crime Bureau, indicating something similar had happened there, called on victims of "possible fraud" to contact the bureau. Calls to the bureau were not immediately returned. Many other firms The Straits Times contacted declined to be quoted, for fear the ABD would alerted to their unpaid bills. But they need not worry, said lawyer Rajah Chettiar, because their contract with ABD "probably wouldn't stand up in court on the grounds of misrepresentationâ€�. ABD has threatened legal action against companies which owe money, but a check uncovered no lawsuits filed by it so far. [email protected]
• scarborough

  24 Mar 08, 10:57

  THE STRAITS TIMES FRIDAY, MARCH 21 2008 BY SHOBANA KESAVA NEARLY 40 inquiries about Asian Business Directories (ADB) – about one every week – have been sent to either the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) or the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore in the past nine months. But the issue raised in these inquiries do not come under the purview of the consumer watchdog or the advertising standards watchdog, said Case’s executive director Seah Seng Choon. He suggested that companies attempt dispute resolution at the Singapore Mediation Centre. However, if they have already bought as space in ADB, they could turn to the Small Claims Tribunal. He added that businesses now have a strong case because they can cite ABD’s public apology as its admission that it is misled them into taking it for the Yellow Pages. Mr Seah said companies in danger of violating copyrights should seek legal advice to stay on the right side of the law.
• scarborough

  27 Mar 08, 17:40

  A victim just received a reminder letter for payment today, the scammers have no respect for their infringement of Yellow Pages Rights, Singapore Yellow Pages should be more firm on the stand with such clone!
• TS Kan

  28 Mar 08, 12:32

  MY advice to all such victims ........ just bloody ignore their letters. Above all ..... PLEASE DO NOT PAY! If u pay this will provide them the working capital to 'stay in business' and cheat more people ..... those local traitors in their employ do their biddings because they are paid salaries from monies cheated from this scam. If u do not pay they will not have salaries ...... u think these bastards live on love and fresh air?

• T3chee

  29 Mar 08, 20:13

  This is my first post. It's sad I know, but it's a relief to hear that I'm not the only one who replied to the fax from Singapore Business Pages unintentionally. I won't go into what I did when I received their invoice, which was in July / August last year. I did the same thing and received the same "discount". What I did subsequently was 1) Checked with a lawyer friend who says that this sounds like misrepresentation. He advised me not to pay. 2) I also contacted CASE and CAD. I'm sure you all know that CASE cannot get involved in this because it's Business to Business. I spoke to the investigative officer at CAD and he also advised me not to pay. He told me that they have a file on APB and are monitoring the company closely. I liaised with this person in APB called Winson, and told him that if ABP doesn't stop harrassing me with demands for payment and legal threats, I will make a police report, as I have been advised to do by CAD. Since then I have ignored all their faxes. I thought that episode was behind me because I stopped receiving faxes from them for some time, but today, I received yet another fax from them threatening that if I do not pay or meet them to discuss solutions, they will escalate this to the Collection Unit to "handle the case". Anyone received such a fax? How will writing to ACRA help? If it helps, I'll be very happy to do so. I think it's a good idea to present a united front to the ABP and the Authorities. If other countries can prosecute companies like this for fraud, I don't know why Singapore isn't doing it. It's really good to hear so much support and encouragement on this forum and that we're not alone in facing this.
• scarborough

  30 Mar 08, 22:38

  T3Chee, Sad to know that you are in the same boat. Just ignore them completely, if they do dare to take legal action on you, you know that you are not alone. Also, you may wish to consider writing to the PM'soffice. This is probably one way to get CAD to act on it.
• Maycasa

  4 Apr 08, 21:14

  Does anybody have any news on the arrests in Hong Kong?

• scarborough

  4 Apr 08, 23:50

  Maycasa, how are you affected by these conman?