“BEWARE of White Business Pages (Pty) Ltd. They are not Telkom or Trudon,” warns a Vryheid businessman, who was nearly scammed.
The businessman, who asked to remain anonymous says he received an email from White Business Pages (Pty) Ltd , which he assumed to have come from Telkom, to verify his contact details.
The con artists who sent the email, cleverly designed it to be misleading, even using telkomsa.net email addresses to correspond with the businessman.
Having already listed with Telkom’s white and yellow pages, the businessman unquestioningly completed the form that had been sent to him, filling in his contact details and sent it back to White Business Pages, as instructed in the email.
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The next week, he received a bill for R6 000.
“I immediately contacted Trudon and asked them what it is that I had been invoiced for. They told me they hadn’t sent the invoice,” said the businessman.
Shortly after that, he received a phone call from White Business Pages demanding payment.
“I asked them for a phone number, where I could reach them and they refuse to provide one. They have threatened us with lawyer’s letters and continue to call us at least once a week demanding payment. They are now using a debt collection company, which I believe is also a scam.”
The businessman admits that he did not read the fine print in the document he had been sent, which stipulates, firstly, that “White Business Pages (Pty) Ltd is an independent online advertising company who is not affiliated to Telkom or Trudon,” and “that the total amount payable on the invoice is six thousand rand only.”
However, this text is so embedded in a chunk of fine print that it is not surprising that the businessman had missed it.
“This information is embedded in the fine print in a deliberate attempt to mislead you,” warns the businessman. “First they try to trick you into thinking they are white pages, so you will sign the form. Then they send you an invoice and use scare tactics to force you to make payment.”
He concluded, “This scam has been discussed at length on East Coast Radio as well, and I believe that if you just don’t pay, nothing will happen. They are very persistent, but I hope my story will help ensure that other business people in Northern KwaZulu-Natal are not caught.”
This businessman has learned a hard lesson on the consequences of not scrutinising the fine print of any document before signing it.
