United States Postal Inspection Service Fraudulent Yellow Pages Invoices

The fraudulent Yellow Pages promotion usually begins with a promoter mailing your company a copy--or a cut-out original--of the advertisement you placed in your local telephone company's current yellow pages. The ad is accompanied by an invoice whose design implies it is being sent by the telephone company. The promoter wants to deceive you into thinking that if you pay the invoice you are authorizing your local phone company to print the same ad in the next edition of its yellow pages. What you receive is either nothing, your ad in only a few copies of a cheaply prepared directory, or your ad in a directory that is distributed not nearly as widely as the phone company's yellow pages.

To protect your company's assets and ensure your ads are placed only where you wish them to appear, carefully read any invoice you receive which transmits a copy or an original of your current yellow pages ad. If the promoter uses a name that differs from that of the phone company, this is your first clue you are not dealing with the phone company. Remember, neither the words "yellow pages" nor the "walking fingers" symbol is trademarked or copyrighted by the phone company.

To ensure your ad is placed in accordance with your wishes, you must determine exactly who is soliciting you and the nature of his publication. However honest a promoter's intentions may be to publish, you have a right to know his track record in producing prior publications, the nature of those publications, and his intentions with respect to his current promotion, including anticipated date of publication and how and to whom the publication is to be distributed.

A company can protect itself by following good business practices:

• Call the phone company and ask if it sent the solicitation.

• If the solicitation was not sent by the telephone company and is deceptive in any way, do not deal with the promoter.

• If you have never heard of the promoter or publication but are interested in placing an ad, talk to the promoter and ask questions of concern; if any of the answers are unsatisfactory, do not deal with the promoter.

• Call your local Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce for any information they may have on the promoter.

• Do not place an ad in the directory if you are not certain with whom you are dealing and do not have commitments you feel you can rely on as to date of publication and area of distribution.

• Be suspicious if the invoice includes a threat that your yellow pages listing will be deleted if you do not pay immediately.

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