Firms warned over website update scam letters
In recent months dozens of small and medium sized firms across the country have received such letters.
The correspondence from Internet Register Ireland, which has an address in Hamburg, Germany, claim the companies have been contacted as they need to confirm they have updated their domain and must re-register with the Irish database.
However, the small print of the document states that any firm which signs the return letter will be obliged to pay €2,874 over the next three years in “advertisement costs” as part of their private Irish internet register.
Official Irish internet body the IE domain register (IEDR) has confirmed that the German-based company, which the European Consumer Centre and Enterprise Europe Network believe is linked to a similar scheme by DAD Deutscher Adressdienst which previously targeted firms, has no official link to Irish internet registration.
Organisations in other countries which have also been targeted, including Switzerland and Belgium, have also confirmed the company has no official link with them.
However, despite the warning dozens of Irish businesses have already been scammed into signing up to the agreement.
“This company’s means of operation seems to put it in a well-known category of fraudulent directory companies, which offer businesses the chance to update their details in a business directory,” explained a spokesperson for the European Consumer Centre.
“Hidden in the small print is the fact that signing and returning the form will render the business liable to a charge for their entry into the directory.
“This is quite a common scam and in many cases these companies operate on a cross-border basis,” she added.
As a result of the situation Labour TD Ciarán Lynch, who was targeted as part of the scam, said some businesses which are already struggling with legitimate financial problems are inadvertently agreeing to pay out of thousands of euro in unsolicited payments.
The Cork South Central representative added that it is essential Irish MEPs work with their counterparts in other countries to raise the issue in the EU Parliament in the coming weeks.
“Companies are being lured into signing and faxing back this form, which could land them with a liability of thousands of euro.
“At a time when many employers are being put to the pin of their collar to pay for even the bare essentials, the last thing they need is an unscrupulous operator like this preying on them and putting their very existence in jeopardy.
“I will be raising this with the European Consumer Agency and with MEPs to see what action we can take to put these scam artists out of business,” he said.
According to the IEDR, any documentation received which relates to a company’s internet website registration should be considered a forgery unless it is sent by the official Irish internet body.
