I first wrote about this particular issue in February of this year in an article entitled 10 reasons why Commercial Register is a scam and it seems that they haven’t gone away.
What is the Commercial Register Scam?
For those of you new to this, the scam is simple; pre-populate an official looking letter, send it to legitimate companies across the UK and ask them to confirm that their company details are correct. Sometimes it’s from the England Commercial Register or the Wales Commercial Register but in all cases it’s the same thing.
Very few people bother to read the small print which commits them to £863 a year for three years and no real way of cancelling.
A simple search on Google will uncover a number of companies who have been hit by this particular scam and all have the same tale; of receiving letters effectively demanding money with menaces.
Following a conversation with one of these companies this week I now have a copy of the letter that they send which I can show you. On top of this, there are some suggestions below as to why you shouldn’t pay them any money at all.
In this particular case, the letter was dealt with by one of the admin staff in the business and the form duly returned. Even worse, once the invoice arrived for the first year it was paid by the Accounts Team but when it was raised as a query to one of the Directors they realised that it was a scam.
Sadly, this is an all too familiar tale. To try and limit the damage they sent a cancellation email immediately to the company.
This is the letter they got back (Please note that in this letter and all others I have redacted the company name and other identifying details).
A few things stand out clearly on this.
- The letter appears to come from the ‘Legal Department’ although we very much doubt that such a department exists. This is supported by the fact that there is no named individual at the bottom, only ‘Legal Department’
- The signature is illegible so you cannot enter into a conversation or correspondence with an individual
- The official looking handstamp in the middle actually contains a spelling mistake [Note to scammers – always check your spelling, it’s a giveaway…]
- They have a disclaimer at the bottom telling you that they have moved their web address for ‘commercial reasons’.
- There are a series of characters arranged vertically in the right-hand margin which is supposed to look official but their purpose, other than that, is not immediately obvious.
- Finally, it threatens to pass you to their ‘debt recovery and litigation firm’ if you don’t pay up.
The next page is slightly more interesting as it gives you some more information about the business.
We can see that they have a bank account (which means that any fraud agencies reading this should be able to nail them quite quickly….) stating;
Account Holder: Direct Publisher S.L.U.
Bank: Ibercaja Banco S.A.
BIC: CAZRES2Z
IBAN: ES87 2085 9285 6703 3035 2169
You could also send a cheque to this address;
Direct Publisher S.L.U.
Calle Fuencarral 160, Entpta. 7
28010 Madrid
Espana
This is crucial evidence;
The address is an apartment in a block in Madrid which looks like this;
In all probability, it’s a rented apartment and the chances of finding anyone there who will admit responsibility for this scam is slim but…. as we will see later, they could actually be in here.
We now also have their complete bank account details which should make it fairly easy to pinpoint.
In this case, the firm disputed the charge, not for the first year which they had already paid but for subsequent years.
They received an email back from someone calling themselves Ella King from the Customer Service Department, highlighting the fact that as they had paid the first instalment they were liable for the rest.
It’s worth noting that they were using what appears to be a dubious email account drp133-1@emaildp.com which hardly seems legitimate.
The email suggests that there is no getting out of the contract and that the company must pay up or else. It also suggests that by paying the first invoice you are liable for all others which is incorrect.
If you don’t pay up then they send another letter saying that it will be placed in the hands of their International Debt Collection agency. This threat of debt recovery frightens many people into paying up.
Before we drive a wedge into this scam let’s be clear; you should not pay them a penny.
In the case of the business we spoke to, then even if this was a legitimate advertising scheme there are significant holes in this agreement. Specifically, we note that;
- The form is not signed by a director or authorised signatory of the company, therefore, it cannot be an official order.
- If you read the small print the contract is virtually impossible to cancel. According to the small print in point 1, it states that “To be valid, cancellations must be effected in writing by registered mail with confirmation of the receipt”.
- The big problem with this is that even if you were to send a Registered Letter via Royal Mail, as soon as the mail is passed to Correos in Spain it is completely out of Royal Mail control. Correos cannot guarantee a signature and so neither can Royal Mail. Without the signature, according to their T&C’s, you don’t have a valid cancellation. On this basis, you will never be able to comply with their condition which makes it unreasonable and therefore invalid.
- They have not delivered what they promised. The original contract and letter was for com-reg but they have mysteriously moved to comm-reg and the original com-reg domain has vanished without a trace. There is no valid explanation for this nor is there any redirection on the old site to the new one.
- Payment for year one does not make you liable for all subsequent years, especially if they cannot deliver what we first promised (an advert on com-reg)
Now, if we use a UK based example to draw a parallel, imagine if you entered into a contract with yell.com and suddenly overnight, the website disappeared but there was a new website called yelll.com on which your advert appeared.
Imagine then if they didn’t put a link between the old and new websites and offered no explanation on the old website as to why they had moved. Would you still be happy to pay for your advertisement?
What are your options if they demand payment?
Just say no.
No one can be sure what will happen and it could end up with debt collectors as they promise. Given the size of the debt, however, it’s unlikely that they will pursue you, especially as if they do and you take it to court they will have to reveal who and where they are.
Report them to Action Fraud on 0300 123 20 40 and keep a record of doing so. The more people who do this the bigger the requirement for them to take action.
Don’t enter into correspondence with them. Ignore their letters and they should go away. There doesn’t appear to be a single instance anywhere online of anyone who has been pursued for this ‘debt’.
If you have already started corresponding with them then stop it immediately.
If they persist then get the best Lawyer you can to send them a letter threatening them with legal action unless they cease and desist.
Keep a record of the time you have spent dealing with this. If it ever did come to court then if you have tracked the time spent you can make it clear that you will invoice them for your time spent dealing with their fraudulent claim
If they persist tell them that you are involving Trading Standards and the Police. There’s more about this on the Companies House website
Who is behind this Commercial Register scam?
The original domain had all its details hidden but since it has disappeared the good news is that the registrant’s details have miraculously appeared online.
They are as follows;
Domain Name: COM-REG.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1955882685_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Update Date: 2015-08-28T09:39:19Z
Creation Date: 2015-08-28T09:39:19Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2017-08-28T09:39:19Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: email@godaddy.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4806242505
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: Not Available From Registry
Registrant Name: Fernando Mancho Palacios
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: Fuencarral n.160, Entreplanta, 7.puerta
Registrant City: Madrid
Registrant State/Province: Madrid
Registrant Postal Code: 28010
Registrant Country: ES
Registrant Phone: +34.656314215
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: email@gmx.com
Registry Admin ID: Not Available From Registry
Admin Name: Fernando Mancho Palacios
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: Fuencarral n.160, Entreplanta, 7.puerta
Admin City: Madrid
Admin State/Province: Madrid
Admin Postal Code: 28010
Admin Country: ES
Admin Phone: +34.656314215
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: email@gmx.com
Registry Tech ID: Not Available From Registry
Tech Name: Fernando Mancho Palacios
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: Fuencarral n.160, Entreplanta, 7.puerta
Tech City: Madrid
Tech State/Province: Madrid
Tech Postal Code: 28010
Tech Country: ES
Tech Phone: +34.656314215
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: email@gmx.com
Name Server: NS45.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS46.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2017-06-23T11:00:00Z <<<
Even though this website no longer exists the registrants’ details are now in plain sight and we now know it is Fernando Mancho Palacios who, surprise, surprise, lives at Fuencarral n.160, Entreplanta, 7.puerta, the very same address to which you can send a cheque for payment.
Perhaps we have our “Entrepreneur” at last?
Meanwhile, the new website has its details still hidden but there are some contact details including a phone number. The registration appears to be in Barcelona so it could be their new web hosting company.
Domain Name: comm-reg.com
Registry Domain ID: 2108868468_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.entorno.com
Registrar URL: http://www.entorno.es
Updated Date: 2017-03-28T14:50:35.0Z
Creation Date: 2017-03-28T10:23:49.0Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2018-03-28T10:23:49.0Z
Registrar: Entorno Digital, S.A.
Registrar IANA ID: 696
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +34.935942101
Domain Status: ok https://www.icann.org/epp#ok
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Entorno Digital S.A. (Whois Privado) .
Registrant Organization: Entorno Digital S.A. (Whois Privado)
Registrant Street: C/ Santa Anna, 32
Registrant City: Cerdanyola del Valles
Registrant State/Province: Barcelona
Registrant Postal Code: 08290
Registrant Country: ES
Registrant Phone: +34.935942101
Registrant Fax: +34.5921445
Registrant Email: entorno4621982@servicio-whois-privado.com
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Entorno Digital S.A. (Whois Privado) .
Admin Organization: Entorno Digital S.A. (Whois Privado)
Admin Street: C/ Santa Anna, 32
Admin City: Cerdanyola del Valles
Admin State/Province: Barcelona
Admin Postal Code: 08290
Admin Country: ES
Admin Phone: +34.935942101
Admin Fax: +34.5921445
Admin Email: entorno4621982@servicio-whois-privado.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Entorno Digital S.A. (Whois Privado) .
Tech Organization: Entorno Digital S.A. (Whois Privado)
Tech Street: C/ Santa Anna, 32
Tech City: Cerdanyola del Valles
Tech State/Province: Barcelona
Tech Postal Code: 08290
Tech Country: ES
Tech Phone: +34.935942101
Tech Fax: +34.5921445
Tech Email: entorno4621982@servicio-whois-privado.com
Name Server: ns1.entornodns.com
Name Server: ns2.entornodns.com
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
Summary
It seems unlikely that this cam will be going away anytime soon. Businesses all over the UK will still receive these letters and be fooled into a £2,500 contract for a tiny advertisement on a nondescript and invisible website.
If you have received one of these, don’t fill it in and return it.
If you have done so then ignore any demands for payment
And finally, if in doubt, get a good lawyer on the case. Given that this scam emanated from Spain the chances of them actually pursuing you through the UK courts is tiny.
If we hear anything more about this we will write another article to update you.
