Yellow Pages, Inc.

This company sends out solicitations to businesses nationwide which are cleverly designed to look like billing statements or invoices for advertising listings in a Yellow Page Directory. ~ ~Business owners are routinely victimized by "yellow page" scams via phone email fax and snail mail solicitations. Due to increasingly available online resources it is becoming easier and more cost effective than ever for scam promoters to solicit businesses for alternative yellow page directories . These alternative directories often are not widely distributed or may not be published at all. Businesses are being deceived into paying for what they erroneously believe to be their usual Yellow Pages ad. ~ ~Solicitations sent by email fax or mail may look like bills or invoices. Both California law and the United States Post Office requires companies issuing such solicitations to place on the face of the solicitation in large print:~~"This is NOT a bill. This is a solicitation for the order of goods and services or both. You are under no obligation to make any payment unless you accept this offer." ~~While they may seem to be complying some companies vary the language and some use print so faint or in light colors that it makes the notice very difficult to read. Although these matters are investigated by law enforcement agencies enforcement is difficult because the companies are often out of state and difficult to locate even if they have a California address on the invoice. They also have a tendency to disappear if governmental action is brought only to reappear under another name. ~~ Use of "walking fingers" or the phrase "Yellow Pages" or the use of ads cut out from other publications are not necessarily in violation of state or federal law; there are no statutes requiring such companies to specify a minimum number of Yellow Page copies which must be printed or delivered nor to operate a website listing which will be seen by a minimum number of people and sometimes the company claims it had first called and obtained consent. It can be difficult to prove that did not happen. Generally the bills are usually not large enough to involve senior management in litigation and companies may thus be unwilling to expend the time to testify. ~~The best protection against these scams is to make certain that your company has a way your payment department can check to determine you really ordered the advertisement before they pay for it.