StopECG

For days now I have been getting reliable reports that the police have moved decisively in Switzerland against the Guides and associated companies.

I can confirm that at Novachannel AG, Intercable Verlag AG and Premium Recovery are not trading at this time, that arrests have been made and that at least one senior executive is reported to have evaded arrest and to be on the run.

I must qualify the obvious delight felt by all who have been touched by these companies, because it is not over yet, firstly this will all now go to court where the guide owners are sure to hire the best lawyers money can buy, secondly they have already moved parts of the operation out of Switzerland.

Around the turn of the Year Novachannel passed their med1web operation to United Directories Lda. In Portugal, United immediately set about actively hounding people who had signed Novachannels earlier mailouts, they have been very persistent and are also now mailing their own forms, forms almost identical to those previously sent by Novachannel.

Then on 1st May Intercable Verlag AG transferred disputed contracts to CEA Kft. of Budapest Hungary. CEA has already set about writing to Czech and Slovak victims who have signed Intercable forms in error. I will publish updated advice for people in dispute with the new companies soon.

These new companies are just the latest twist in a complex web of firms straddling the globe but primarily based in Europe. For over 30 years straw men and trustees have fronted holding companies that provided logistics, technical support and infrastructure, parts of individual guide activities have been secretly managed by these companies and while it is near impossible to ascertain the true owners of many of these firms money flows between them with great ease both as payments and loans. Again and again the core perpetrators have evaded justice, to such a point that some of them now feel above the law.

I know that employees of these companies, both current and past will read this blog, so I appeal to those of you reading to seize this opportunity and go to the police! You will have information that is almost certainly no longer in the paper trail. Details you consider minor might aid the case and make it harder for the guide operators to set up afresh. It is not just the current operators, if there is a resounding conviction in this case it will make it harder for people elsewhere in the world to run similar scams.

I will update this article and stopECG with details of how to contact the Lucerne police directly but in the meantime why not take what you know to your local station, even if you think the guides are unconnected.

Update: 2nd July / 6th July: as promised here are the contact details for Swiss Police, you can also pass information to me on stopscamguides@yahoo.co.uk and I will pass it on, as it is unclear who has overall responsibility I have published all relevant addresses.

Lucerne Police
Kantonspolizei Luzern
Kommando
Kasimir-Pfyffer-Strasse 26
Postfach 6002 Luzern
Switzerland
Tel +41 41 248 81 17
Fax +41 41 240 39 01
E-Mail info.kapo(at)lu.ch

Zug Police
Zuger Polizei
An der A
6300 Zug

Tel. 041 728 41 41
Fax 041 728 41 79
info(at)polizei.zg.ch
Ask for investigation officer Mr Daniel Stein

Swiss Courts
Eichwilstrasse 26010
Luzern Switzerland
Tel. +41 318 15 25
Fax +41 318 15 13

Labels: CEA Kft, intercable Verlag AG, med1web, Novachannel AG, Police, Premium Recovery, scam, United Directories Lda

I have posted here before about Internetvictims, a German forum which carries posts by persons sympathetic to, quite possibly involved with the scam guides

The forum is maintained by persons who have in the past worked for a company that now profits from the mailing of misleading contracts and they have shown by the removal of comments critical of the scam guides that they are not independent moderators of the discussion there.

A recurring name used to post is Der Weisse Ritter (The White Knight) (sic), the person (Or persons) behind posts in this name show by their content a close affiliation with, and deep understanding of more than one guide. They post against, and attempt to harm individuals who have taken a stand against the scams.

Often the targets are peripheral to the battle, people who, because of their position are forced to take action against the scams.

The latest posts name certain MEPs who have taken a stand against the scams and implore people not to vote for them, Of course the chances of a constituent for one of these MEPs seeing the post, much less being moved to vote against them is minimal, that is not the goal. The objective of the Der Weisse Ritter posts appears to be to deter those in authority, those who have the power to stop these scams from entering the fray, less they be defamed.

It is not the place of StopECG to offer political affiliations but the rather infantile activity on Internetvictims does raise an issue. Many readers of this blog have the chance to vote on Thursday and they should ask what their MEP has done for them.

Has your MEP assisted you in fighting the guide scams?
Has your MEP shown that they understand the problem?
When The Parliament looks at the matter again in early 2010 can you be sure they will do what is best for you as a victim of the scam?
If so, I hope you will be moved to vote for them!

That is Democracy 'Ritter', Knights belong in a time when it was OK for the feudal lord to steal from his subjects; your choice of name is very telling!

Jules Woodell

Labels: defamation, Der Weisse Ritter, Germany, Internetvictims, MEP, White Knight Der Weisse Ritter

Some of you will have noticed repeated outages for the StopECG website over the last few days, these have been the result of renewed DDos attacks

It is exactly 3 years since I reported, on this blog the first Denial of Service attack against StopECG, in the intervening period the site has been under almost constant bombardment but we have found ways of deflecting or absorbing the extra traffic.

Last week a new sort of attack was launched, this was far bigger and more sophisticated than past attacks, based on the data flows and the type of attack I have been advised that this was almost certainly purchased from international criminal gangs and that a botnet
of several hundred thousand machines may have been involved.

At the peak of the attack on Tuesday 5th march several thousand websites were taken down, these were sites for small businesses and individuals and the economic damage was considerable, it was decided that it was not reasonable to remain with our host while such attacks were occurring.

StopECG was not the only site attacked, in fact almost every website in the world that comments on Business to Business guide scams has suffered DDos attacks in recent weeks, in what appears to be a coordinated effort to remove advice from the WWW

StopECG site is being moved from host to host on a temporary basis and will soon be located on a server dedicated to websites that are subject to such attacks. Alas this will cost more… If you have benefited from the advice on Stopecg.org please consider making a donation so that others can continue to benefit from the service we offer.

You can do this by Paypal to stopecg@yahoo.co.uk or, if you would prefer to send a Cheque please email stopscamguides@yahoo.co.uk and I will provide a postal address.

StopECGs accounts are managed by a 3rd Party and are used solely for the actual costs of running and defending the website

Thanks!
Jules Woodell

Labels: DDos attack, guide scams, Stopecg.org

A growing problem for website owners is the receipt of demands for many hundreds of pounds for ‘Unauthorized Use’ of copyrighted material, most commonly images. Getty Images and Corbis are widely reported to sending these to small firms who, often inadvertently, have placed copyrighted images on their website. The senders claim that regardless of the fact the images were often obtained in good faith, a liability exists if it has been used for commercial gain.

However no one seems to be able to identify any instance where the owners have actually gone to court, even when their demands are simply ignored. I.e. Even if these companies believe they have rights they are reluctant to test the matter in court, making the demands appear to be little more than a money grabbing exercise.

I will not cover this matter in detail as it has been analysed very thoroughly here
http://www.fsb.org.uk/discuss/forum_posts.asp?TID=1106

Suffice to say that if you obtained the image in good faith the act of removing it should be enough, you are unlikely to end up in court for refusing to pay.

More recently I was notified of a case of a secondhand record seller who received a demand because it is claimed that the artist name on an old record they listed was copyrighted and the seller had published that name on the website.

The record company demand appears to be a scam, it was pretty inevitable that, with rights holders making claims others would step in and make more suspect demands, when the whole thing is conducted by post, what assurance do you have that you are paying the actual rights holder even if the name on the letters is that of a reputable company?

If you receive a letter that you consider spurious you should take it to trading standards and try to get them to investigate to see if the sender is committing an offence. As a rule it is probably advisable not to pay any demand you receive claiming copyright infringement without seeking legal advice as you may find you have simply lined the pockets of a scammer.

That said, once notified you should remove the disputed image or text as a precaution as well as sending a reply noting that you have done this and that you refute the demand.

Labels: Copyright, Demands, Infringement, scam

This Message was sent to the Constoppers email list, a free opt-in service, sending very occasional warnings about scams that affect SMEs and charities.
To join and get warnings direct to your inbox simply email: constoppers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To report a scam, email: constoppers-owner@yahoogroups.com

The UK Tax office, HMRC, is reporting a rise in so called Phishing Scams. These scams take the form of emails or phone calls relating to the tax deadline or a rebate where the victim is asked for sensitive information which could allow the scammer to access bank accounts and steal money. Emails might also link to a fake website which could install malicious code on your computers and compromise security
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/phish-scam-0109.pdf

HMRC states that it only ever contacts businesses by letter and would never request such information by phone or email.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/spoofs.htm

They are also providing up-to-date information on emails and tactics used by the fraudsters
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/fraud-attempts.htm

If you receive an email purporting to be from HMRC please forward it tophishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk or call the helpline on 0845 302 0203

It is very refreshing to see a government body taking such a proactive stance against scams, hopefully this will mark a new dawn in the way government works to protect and forewarn small businesses.

Jules Woodell 08 Jan 2009

Labels: Constoppers, HMRC, Phishing, scam, Scams, tax

This post comes in 2 parts, first the report, by Simon Bussutil MEP second the actions of the ECG


THE REPORT
This stems tems from our petition against the ECG is being discussed in plenary tonight, thanks to the marvels of the internet I am watching the parliament live as I type this

The final vote will be on Either Tuesday 16th or Thursday 18th December, if you have not done so before hand please contact your MEP and ask them to be present for the vote

How to contact your MEP:
You may find that you are represented by more than one MEP, if so, please contact them all!
http://www.europarl.eu.int/ ALL EU Countries please navigate to your country
http://www.writetothem.com/ UK Only (enter your postcode, you can then fax direct from the webform)

ACTIONS OF THE ECG
StopECG has received a copy of an email apparently mailed by the ECG to an MEP, which was forwarded to a constituent who is in dispute with the guide. The letter along with a number of comments are reproduced here.

When writing to your MEP feel free to reference the ECG’s letter and our comments on it, StopECG feels that if this letter is being sent to MEPs there is no harm in your referencing it and pointing out important counter arguments.

Jules Woodell

Labels: European City Guide, MEP, Report, Simon Bussutil

This Video really needs no commentry from me, Richard succinctly deals with the matter




As Richard Notes there is now a draft report from the Petitions Committee on this matter which will soon be debated by the Parliament in Brussels, you can read the draft here: English = français = Deutsch = italiano = español = ελληνικά = magyar = polski = română = slovenčina = slovenščina = suomi = svenska = български = čeština = dansk = eesti keel = latviešu valoda = lietuvių kalba = Malti = Nederlands = português

I encourage everyone affected by the guides to draw the attention of their MEPs to this report. and to ask that they follow its progress

How to contact your MEP:
You may find that you are represented by more than one MEP, if so, please contact them all!
http://www.europarl.eu.int/ ALL EU Countries please navigate to your country
http://www.writetothem.com/ UK Only (enter your postcode, you can then fax direct from the webform)

Jules Woodell

Labels: European City Guide, MEP, Richard Corbett