I work in a very small business. I’d say that at least once a day, and sometimes more frequently, I get a call that starts, "My name is John Smith* and with Johnson Profiles* and I’m just calling to update your profile in the State Manufacturer’s Directory. This is the approximate beginning, with some variations in theme. Often it’s a foreign accent, maybe a foreign line. They want information on the business address, or similar. I always tell them to fax me a form and I’ll fill with the information that’s appropriate. They never fax me anything.
I assume this is some sort of “scam”, although maybe borderline legit. Is anyone familiar with how this works and how they profit? Do they use this to “identity theft” the business? Do they actually create some directory or use the info to try and sell you advertising in the directory, that may or may not be bogus?
I’m curious to know how this plays out, but I’m not really interested in playing the game to learn the answer.
Thanks,
Shibb
Generally it’s an old publishing scam, Shibb.
You call up, get someone to commit to being listed, get their information, then send the list pub with a bill for $200. The $200 isn’t for the listing (that would be an advertisement) but rather for the hardcopy pub itself.
Happens all the time. Just ignore them.
Yeah, the other main titles are “Who’s Who Of Manufacturing”, “Who’s Who In The West”, “Who’s Who in Suburban Highschool Track Teams” etc. These are actually made by the people who put out “Who’s Who”. They include only a few major names for free and the rest pay for the vanity value. The books, however, are only distributed to those inside, except a couple token freebee books to some major library to lend an air of creedence.
And some of these jerks are so damn persistent.
But I’ll tell you why:
They are all being scammed by their company.
The company has one list of prospects and hands it to dozens of people who are gulled into thinking they have a real job telemarketing. They all work out of their homes calling people and some will result in sales…but the callers are never paid for their work. Nobocy can ever make enough for it to be worth while and they all give up before they are paid. The company will say that commissions are only payable to 1)current employees 2)making x number of calls per day 3) and only 1 month after the customer’s check clears the bank.
Since no one has ever met those criteria, the company has free telemarketing. It’s a legal scam, but since each person is out only a weeks labor they never sue.