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15/01/2010
FAQ: fraud and unfair practices
- I received a letter from a lottery telling me that I had won a big prize. As far as I know, I did not take part in this lottery. Is this trustworthy?
- I would like to take up a very interesting offer on the internet but the seller is asking me to pay via Western Union. Is this trustworthy?
- I want to buy football tickets on the internet. How do I know which sites I can trust?
- I am a trader and I recently received a letter from a publisher of a professional guide who asked me to complete a form. Afterwards I received an invoice. The company told me that I had subscribed to their service. Do I have to pay?
- I bought two tickets for a Britney Spears concert from a Dutch website. I have received the tickets but I see that the price on the ticket is lower than the price that I paid. Is this legal?
- I saw a very attractive advertisement for a car on the internet. The seller is suggesting to make use of an English transportation firm as an intermediary. Is this trustworthy?
- I received an e-mail from my bank which said that my account had been accidentally deactivated. They are asking me to enter some personal data to reactivate the account. What is your opinion of this?
- I received a catalogue accompanied by a letter which stated that I had won thousands of euros. All I have to do to receive the prize is to order something from the catalogue. Will I really receive this prize if I order something?
- A company asked me for the details of my credit card by telephone so that I could take part in a lottery. Is it safe to pass these details on or is it risky?
- I have been swindled. What should I do now?
No. We have already received a lot of complaints about fake lotteries, mainly from Spain (El Gordo, La Primitiva, European Lottery Commission, …).
These businesses are totally fictitious. To receive your ‘prize’ the fraudsters first ask you to pay a certain amount in taxes, bank charges, carriage costs, insurance costs, etc. This is clearly a swindle. Do not pay anything because you will never see your money again. You will never receive the so-called ‘prize’.
We advise you not to respond to this kind of letters. You cannot win the lottery if you have not taken part in it.
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Western Union is active all over the world in the business of sending money. You can send cash to more than 200 countries via Western Union.
Watch out: this payment method is not very safe. The recipient only needs the transfer code, which he has received from the sender, to collect the money. The identity of the person who collects the money is not always checked.
Fraudsters know about how Western Union works and make use of this relatively anonymous method to defraud people: they enter into a sale transaction with a consumer and ask him to pay through Western Union. Afterwards they vanish without trace with the money. Attention: Western Union offers no protection whatsoever to the sender of the money and cannot be held responsible if you are defrauded.
Western Union itself advises customers only to use its services to send money to persons they know well (family, friends). You are therefore advised not to use Western Union to make payments via the internet, if you do not know the seller personally.
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There are more and more fraudulent sites on the internet which sell tickets for sporting and other events. It is impossible to draw up a blacklist because these websites constantly disappear and then reappear under another name.
Be careful if you are going to buy tickets online. Check to see if you are buying from a site that is authorised to sell these tickets. You can often find this information on the websites of the organising body. You can also look on forums to see whether the website is trustworthy. Be careful because forums are often anonymous.
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The ECC has received many complaints about companies that use these unfair practices: European City Guide, Construct Data, Dad Gmbh, Nova Channel, Registre Internet Belge, GPV, Guide de la ville, …
At the bottom of the form which the trader has to complete, it says in tiny, nearly invisible letters that by sending back the document you are agreeing to enter into a contract for a duration of 3 years for an amount between € 700 and € 1000 per year.
If you receive such a letter, do not send the form back. If you have already done so, dispute the invoice. Send a registered letter to the company in which you complain about the misleading nature of the form and demand cancellation of the invoice and the contract. Check whether the General Directorate for Control and Mediation (the former Economic Inspectorate) has already received complaints about this company. If this is the case, the General Directorate for Control and Mediation can tell you if there is already a case pending in the courts. If so, you can add your complaint. Let the company know the steps you have taken and that you are awaiting the results of the judge’s investigation.
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We have received various complaints about Dutch websites which sell tickets for sporting and cultural events. These businesses state in their general terms and conditions of sale that the price stated on the tickets may differ from the price at which they are sold. This practice is prohibited in Belgium, but it is permitted in the Netherlands. Always read the general terms and conditions of sale very thoroughly of the web shop you are interested in.
Our Dutch colleagues recommend the following websites because they sell tickets on behalf of the organisers of the events at the prices that they set:
www.ticketmaster.nl
www.ticketbox.nl
www.topticketline.nl
www.ticketpoint.nl
www.ntk.nl
www.aub.nl
www.easyticket.nl
The following Dutch websites decide the sale prices of the tickets themselves, so the prices may be higher than the price stated on the tickets:
www.budgetticket.nl
www.onlineticketshop.nl
www.ticketunlimited.nl
www.tickets4u.nl
www.easy-tickets.info.nl
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We have already received a lot of complaints from people who have been swindled when buying a car on the internet. The seller asks the buyer to transfer the money to the transport company’s account, which supposedly blocks this sum until the car has been delivered. But once the buyer has transferred the money, the transport company and the seller vanish into thin air. The car is never delivered.
If you have been the victim of such a fraud, then you can only file a complaint with the police. There is very little chance of getting your money back. Investigations into such cases of fraud at an international level are very difficult.
Be careful about how you go about buying a car online to avoid such pitfalls. Be vigilant if a seller proposes a transport company, certainly if it is British. Check whether the transport company actually exists. Visit their website. Check whether the address, the telephone number (not a mobile number) and the VAT number are mentioned on the site.
Never pay the full price prior to delivery, but negotiate an advance payment. Be careful if the prize is unusually cheap compared with the usual prices in the marketplace. Try to check the car if you can. Given that this is an expensive purchase, going to see the car is certainly worth the trouble and money.
Avoid paying via Western Union. This payment method is not very safe (see question 2). Choose to pay by credit card. This will protect you against fraud or swindles.
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Be careful. This is probably a case of phishing. This is a technique that fraudsters use to try to get hold of your personal data with the intention of using your identity for fraudulent ends. The phisher tries to convince the victim to hand over his information by pretending to be a reliable institution, such as a bank or employer. Never respond to e-mails in which unknown persons ask you for personal or confidential information. It is very likely that they will misuse this information. If you receive such a message, contact the institution in question and check the genuineness of the message.
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In the past we received a lot of complaints from consumers who were victims of such unfair practices, including about the companies TV Direct Distribution, TV Direct Santé, Just 4 You and Les Indispensables. The victims never received their prize although they ordered something. When they asked the companies for an explanation, it turned out that they had never actually won anything but were only entitled to take part in the lottery. Be on your guard if you receive such letters.
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This is clearly an attempted swindle. The fraudsters telephone consumers and pretend to be representatives of an international lottery like Euromillions. They offer consumers the chance to participate in a lottery, for which they only have to give their credit card number. Be careful if you are asked to give your bank details on the telephone to prevent abuse.
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If you have given your credit card number to a third party or if you suspect that your credit card has been used to carry out a suspicious transaction, contact your credit card issuer as soon as possible. They will investigate the matter and carry out a ‘charge back’ or refund if the complaint proves to be justified.
We advise you to lodge a complaint with the police and to report the swindle on the website www.ecops.be, an initiative of the Crime Unit of the Federal Judicial Police (FCCU) and the FPS Economy, SMEs, the Self-Employed and Energy.
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