School Books Scam Continues To Target Businesses
by matt @ 2:25 pm. Blogged under Thinking, Domain Registration
A couple of years ago somebody telephoned Firetop and claimed that the children’s books I’d allegedly sponsored were now ready for collection and they wanted payment. When I confronted them with the fact that I hadn’t ordered them, they said somebody else at Firetop must have done… to which I was able to reply - ‘there isn’t anybody else at Firetop’. The lady on the phone threatened to take legal action and I wished her the best of luck after she said that she was from Child Protection UK Ltd of Denton, Manchester (she even phoned back to say she’d made a mistake and they weren’t a registered company - hanging up and swearing when I started reading out the address). Since then I have gone on to blog about this experience and it led to a lot of feedback from other victims of similar bogus calls involving ‘sponsored books’ for schools.
Needless to say as this blog entry rose up the Google rankings, Child Protection UK Ltd’s Managing Director ‘Paula Rainnie’ and I have gone on to discuss these experiences in much detail – by telephone and email. Paula confirmed to me that she was working with Trading Standards in Denton regarding this matter because she believes that they themselves are the victims of other companies trading on the CPUK name and using scam techniques to extract funds from victims. They do sell sponsored books on drug awareness and provide them to schools but Paula insists that within CPUK they do not use any bogus calling pressure techniques and are a reputable business. Understandably, accusations arising from the actions of these other fraudulent impersonators are frustrating for legitimate publishing businesses.
Today I spoke with Trading Standards in Denton to confirm that they are ‘working with’ Paula and CPUK following complaints that they have received. They are also ‘working with’ numerous other companies in the same line of business (sponsored books for schools) who are also subject to complaint. The lady I spoke with could not confirm whether any of these businesses (CPUK included) were or were not at fault as investigations are ongoing.
Whatever is the case here it seems that some people are making scam calls to try and fool small businesses into paying invoices. Numerous company names have been mentioned on this blog this year – whether somebody is trading on reputations or not remains to be proved by Trading Standards. If you do receive an invoice for something you haven’t ordered or a phone call demanding payment stick to your guns, you probably haven’t developed alzheimer’s just yet.
Some of the names being used falsely by bogus callers and invoice scammers are:
Core media concepts’ - safety books from Carroll-Dillon Publishing
‘Crime prevention team’ - anti-bullying campaign
‘CPUK’ - drug awareness
‘Primary Years Ltd’
If you experience a problem with somebody claiming to be from Child Protection UK Ltd I would suggest calling their Managing Director to discuss it further as she will be only too happy to pass on the details of the call, or invoice, to her contacts at Trading Standards. Further information sources on this topic, including a Radio broadcast from Radio 4 are shown below:
1. Radio 4’s You and Yours: Publishing Scam - Small businesses targeted - A multi million pound publishing scam, which extracts money from small businesses for work that’s often never done.
2. Teachers warn business to check with schools before handing over cash
3. Businesses Asked To be Wary Of Book Sellling Scam For Local Schools
4. Beware of fake invoice scam
Finally here is a copy of a useful letter one of many comment makers posted which should be sent in reply to a false invoice:
—-
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am in receipt of a sample of a book entitled ‘Sidney the Snail Plays Safe’ and an invoice from you for the sum of £139 purporting to be in accordance with an agreement made by telephone in November last year to enter into sponsorship with you.
I hereby deny any knowledge of any telephone call made by anyone at your company prior to the call I received from you last week.
Will you please forward to me the following:
1) Proof of contract
2) Proof of the advertisement
3) Proof of distribution.
If you are unable to provide proof of any one of these you should cease further demands for payment which may be considered harassment under the Administration of Justice Act which is a criminal offence.
Please also note that in your letter/invoice three spelling mistakes in my name, business name and address have been made.
Yours sincerely
—-
Technorati Tags: fraud, cpuk, child protection, manchester, dti, watch dog, trading standards, publishing scam, school books, drug awareness, core media concepts
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January 16th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I am a sole trader and I get 2 calls a week asking for payment. they say some body else in my office made the order, there is no body else. they also prnounce my name in away that I have never heard. I have told them many times to stop calling. now I just hang up half way through their introduction. this makes me smile.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Also a sole trader, I’ve been dealing with one of these scams for more than two years. They insisted I’d given spoken consent and threatened to sue when I denied this patent nonsense. At various times I have received threatening phone calls promising legal action, and I’ve told them where to go in polite but very specific terms. I still get calls every few days/weeks (two this week).
February 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Just had a phone call 5 minutes ago, it was very odd and luckily I smelt a scam!! The person is sending me the paperwork… hmmm… They knew a few details but not my name.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
We to have been experiencing similar things to the others, I received a phonecall from these people that my order of books was ready to dispatch to my daughters school. When I quizzed them they said they would send out the paper work. Which I received along with a a copy of the book, and a bill for £269. My wife phoned them and after some time said that they wold reduce the ammount tp £99. and to let them know as sooon as possible so they could get the books printed (they had allreadytold me that they where ready for dispatch) We then received a call from a debt collecters for the full ammount when we contacted them and confronted them with all the details and the mistakes they said that they would look into it and phone me back in 10 minutes, still waiting.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:33 am
this time it was advertised as the Anti-Bullying-League, same scam, told me they’d called september last year, that I’d agreed to have my details on the back of the book, then said a member of the distribution team would ring in the next ten minutes to confirm address etc. (it turns out they already HAD my address). they did ring ten minutes later but when they mentioned an INVOICE, I said I hadn’t agreed to buy anything so she passed me over to the original person I’d spoken to, who was IN THE SAME ROOM! She explained that she HAD mentioned the price of the book was £199.99 (she hadn’t) and when I told her I didn’t want to buy anything, and that I didn’t even HAVE £199.99, she just hung up. scumbags.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:39 am
They have just rung me (I think they said they were from CMC) telling us that our agreed books were ready for dispatch & they would be sending us an invoice. I challenged her saying we knew nothing about it. She said it was agreed with the owner of the company - but couldn’t tell me the name of the “owner”. I told her it was company policy not to enter into these kind of affairs due to the number of scams and hoaxes and no-one here would have agreed to anything. I asked her what kind of agreement they thought they had - she said it was a verbal one. I countered with the fact that our company policy is never to enter into verbal agreements, only written ones. She hung up.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
We too have been getting phone calls for over 2 years now but recently they have been calling every day!
They are now getting really pushy, and apparently are going to send us details about our “agreement”!!
This should make interesting reading….
March 31st, 2008 at 8:53 am
i have been also hounded by core media concepts about some books i was supposed to agree on last august and now i have a debt collection agency on my back threatning to take me to court.i noticed on the letters both from core media concepts and the dept collection agency that the paper was printed by carol dillion publishing and the company numbers was the same and the vat numbers was the same also.i recieved a copy of this book which had been published and it had a sticker on with my business name on the back.very cheap and a big con be aware of these people.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:13 am
i am a small building companey and as your previous correspondents have recived calls for paymentfor £229.00 no vat, for saftey awareness books to be deliverd to a primary school of my choice, i have not paid because something did not feel right as i do not usually forget if i have orderd something,so i thougth i would do a google on core media concepts and now i am waiting for their next call so i can discuss their scam with them, i shall keep you posted on the outcome jb
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 am
Yes we get the same calls for the past year at about two a week asking for payment of books we have apparently sponsered. every time we say send us an invoice etc and they say ok and allways hang up abruptly. By the way after asking them for proof or detials 100s of times nothing has ever come through…
What can we do about these trouble makers !!
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:12 am
Now calling themselves Ikonic Publications trading/as Educational Support Publications, booklet called ‘I can feel happy I can feel safe’. We’ve had two calls from them and since there is only me and my partner I smelt a scam but wasn’t 100% so googled them. Unfortunately nothing came up for Educational Support Publications or Ikonic Publications so I’m glad I noticed the Core Media Concepts on the inside page. Can something be done to make sure Educational Support Publications and Ikonic Publications comes up with SCAM like Core Media Publications?
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Well you should find that your comment alone helps to achieve that aim Mary when Google next indexes this page
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I have just today received a phone call from CMC saying my order is ready, they would be sending me a copy of the book with there invoice and could I nominate a local school, I told them I could not remember any such order that I had made she replied it was back in October and some one else would call me back soon, in the meantime I Google’d CMC and came up with this article, thank you, when she (I think it may have been the same person) phoned back about ten minutes later I confronted her about the scam, she made her excuses and finished the call as soon as she could, what can I do if I receive an invoice from them, do I pass it onto trading standards?
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:29 pm
You can certainly get in touch with them for advice Cliff. I would guess that if you send a similar letter to that in the bottom of this article you wouldn’t hear any more though.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Wife had a call today with the same thing. Had her maiden name which changed 6 years ago. Just denied the order and they are sending an invoice!. They just keep doing this as some people will be scared into paying the invoice. This is terrible and these people should be locked up. Our hair salon is in Sandhurst. Berks. Has anybody actually had an invoice off them yet?
April 7th, 2008 at 10:24 am
We have received an invoice today for £200 from ikonic publications t/a Educational Support Publications. When telephoning to ask for details of order which they insisted we had made the lady we sole to would not listen to what we were saying and put the phone down on me.My partner a sole trader has not placed such an order and was threatened with being sued if invoice not paid within 7 days. I requested a copy of the taped onversation which they say they have and which they say acts as proof of verbal agreement.At no time was order made, which they also say is legal. Trading standards and school in qustion contacted. Any ideas on what to do next? HELP! Kate Richardson Thank you
April 7th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Cliff, if you do get an invoice trading standards has advised me to let them take me to court and then gather evidence as to why this aggreement is invaid. You need to get in touch in writing lodging a formal grievance for which they have to reply within 14 days. To be honest I would love to go to court with these animals what they are doing is immoral and unjust and ruining what could be a lovely gesture. The book - which i have seen is very bad quality and not acceptabe for children of primary and early secondary age!
April 7th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I’ve just contacted Trading Standards in my area (thanks to this blog!) and they know the scam exists but not enough people come forward. So please, anyone with any kind of evidence - written or unwritten - call Trading Standards and let’s give them the stuff they need to get this rubbish stopped.
April 7th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Received Bogus invoice today from The Safety Group of Rawsthorne Street Halliwell Bolton. This was for climate safety and awareness booklet
Claimed someone spoke to us in October. My Father made the mistake of paying some invoices to similar companies- Crime Prevention books, Green Schemes etc and they have targeted us since. My Father died in October from a heart attack- not helped by several of these calls every day.
Now I just tell them to provide proof of order, they say they will call back with tapes etc and never do. When I can I waste as much of their time as possible discussing how scamming people must be such a great and fulfilling way to spend your life.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Just received a phonecall from ASP?? Claiming that we had ordered ‘Books for Schools’. I recognised the scam from last year and told them that they should take us off their system as this is a scam and we do not want to have anything to do with it (you could hear that the phone call came froma call centre, because of the background noise). The answer was very rude and they hang up. calling 1471 reveiled that their telephone number was withheld.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Seems to be a busy time of year for this scam! We too have been contacted by a cold caller, this time claiming to be “Educational Support Publications Limited”, claimingin that we had agreed to sponsor them. Will be advising Trading Standards of this approach.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I have been also been a victim of this scam, but when I contacted the police they said it was hard for them to monitor the phone calls to trace them & so the next time they called me I decided to play along & get some infomation out of them & so I thought that by getting them to send me the paper work the police would have the means to find them, but I was shocked when a lady at a consumers watch dog said that I have agreed to a verbal contract. Sickening! Is this true? Or should I just ignore it?
April 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Well I’m no lawyer but it has previously been reported that they can claim a verbal agreement if it is supported with taped evidence (and apparently they do tape calls). The best thing to do is admit to nothing I’m afraid…
April 9th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Well I just asked for the paperwork & didn’t say I agreed,plus they didn’t warn me that the conversation was recorded & I don’t think my conversation with them would not stand up in court I’m sure. Besides I have registerd my call with the police. So they can sue me. But it is now worrying.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I was contacted by educational support about books for my local school. I had been on the computer the week before actually supporting some local charties, so when i got the call it took me by suprise but i thought that i’d agreed for something online. I agree verbaly, when the invoice came i googled it and realised its a scam, now i’m getting letters threatening legal action. I don’t want ccj’s as we rely on credit for our business. what do i do ?
April 10th, 2008 at 10:09 am
hi jay well since my last post on the 31st of march.i was contacted to get myself a solicitor and this was on a friday and they would ring me back on the tuesday but they never did.just ignore them they will get sick and pick on someone else.its unfortunate we have all had to put up with this.i even telephoned manchester police at one stage and they told me to take the letter to my local police and if they think its something not right then they can investigate.so you always have that option.i choose to just ignore them myself.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Just had the same phonecall myself today, from a withheld number, They said that I had agreed back in September to sponsor books for my local school, the books are now ready, which school whould I like them sent to? They told me that the cost was £165 and they would be sending an invoice, and thats where I stopped them and asked them if they had a signed contract from me… I was told “No it was a verbal agreement”. I Told them bluntly that I could’nt remember such an agreement at which time the operator got very irate and told me that they recorded their phonecalls and would forward me a recording.. which I asked them to do… they then hung up… It will be interesting to see what happens from here in… had a good idea it was a scam… but must admit I am a little relieved to have found out from this site that it is…. will wait to see if they send anything because all they can have is a copy of the phonecall I received today, and if they have recorded that then it is illegal without them notifying you that they are doing so….
April 11th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
You have to be so careful with these people. Last night I took a call from somebody who claimed they were working for a charity and wanted me to answer 5 questions to help with research, I declined to participate citing the numerous verbal agreement scammers as the reason.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
O.k. lets turn it around on them. Do they have an actual address? are they an actual dodgy company, if so, we could all chip in & put a bounty on there heads. If they have actually caught someone, lets find out who they are. We should not tollerate this kind of scum. When I told the lady that I had reported them to the police & trading standards, she just laughed it off & said they can’t do nothing & I agree, as the police can find a terrorist group with little clues, but cant find people that repeatedly leave a massive trail of traceable phone calls. Let’s face it the police are lame.
April 12th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Why don’t you get in touch with BBC Watchdog - it would be good if we all did!
April 12th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I’ve done that twice in recent years Ann, never heard anything back. I was thinking that maybe Working Lunch might be a better bet - since many small business owners do take time out to watch that at lunch time?
April 12th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Yes, that is a good idea! Will contact them as well! Cheers.
April 12th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
[…] Take a look in your local school, do you see any? Ask the staff, have they had any? No! Any booklets of this kind are generally made available to schools through websites such as and are free. Small businesses are generally the target for these scams as you can see on this blog. […]
April 14th, 2008 at 11:00 am
People need to made aware, this scam is massive & it causes alot of stress to decent people trying hard make a living. I havn’t even finnished paying off my tax bill & now I’m worried about having to pay for a verbal agreement from some disguisting con artists, because the police can’t do their job. As soon as I can afford it I am leaving this awful country.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:55 am
When they call next time, say that you are the chief inspector at the crime scene of the company,and that the person they wish to speak to has been a victim of a vicious crime. They need to provide their details as part of the investigation, as if they know the business owner they may have to appear in court. Really wind em up, it should do the trick.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I was told today I’d agreed to it in November. Confused, I nearly fell for it until I heard the £249 figure. I asked if they had any signed paperwork and she just hung up!!
April 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I asked at a legal newsgroup, look up;
‘Distance Selling Regulations’
Two of which are;
*You must also provide this information in writing.
*The consumer has a cooling-off period of seven working days.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:17 am
The problem is that we are all too preconditioned over here. We just let the government screw us over time & time again. The police have the means; in fact they probably know exactly where these people are operating from. It’s a bit like councils with potholes. After about countless complaints from people that have damaged their wheels, they then actually look into it. I think the only way is a petition from all us business’s that have been at the other end of this scam. We can then send it to the police & demand justice against these crooks. They just go through the yellow pages, I know this because Yell miss spelt my business name wrong & the crooks contacted me with this typo. There is a massive amount of people out there who have suffered these nuisance calls. I want to see these people behinds bars.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
My husband is also having calls from the so called, Ikonic publications t/a educational support publications. They say he agreed verbally, but he has no recollection of any such conversation with them. They telephone nearly everyday aswell as sending letters, threatening to take action, last call was only 20 mins ago.He has made it very clear they are getting no money and to take him to court, so i dont know why they keep calling, perhaps they think we will get fed up with the calls and pay them,lol, i dont think so. Thank god we found this site,as we have now also informed trading standards.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I got scammed last year by core media concepts, and paid! I felt I had no choice and must have agreed something I had forgotten. It has just happened again, different company but they knew I had sponsored books last year(?) I rang them when I received their new invoice extremely rude woman who tried the “poor children” routine. I got suspicious when I mentioned my Head of school and the woman didnt know my local school, (I am a Governor so would have named them if asked) I have been worrying about this until my husband googled it and found this. Thank God! I dont have £149 to throw away, AGAIN!Thank you to everyone who has blogged, I cant believe i ALMOST FELL FOR IT AGAIN.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Got scammed by ESP WAITING FOR THEM TO SEND BOOKLETS BEFORE I PAY FOR STILL WAITING
April 16th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I asked for the booklet as well - and it came with a sticker on the back which had a hand-written scribble on it: ‘Office copy’. I then said I wanted to see the advert on the back of a book and I got another booklet with a sticker on it but this time typed - my name, spelt wrongly, and mistakes in the postcode!
They ring everyday - a very agressive woman and interestingly enough she will not leave a message. I have written and asked for a contract but have had nothing. Thank G-d for this blog - makes me feel I am not alone. Cheers A
April 17th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Hi, have read all your comments with interest. My husband has just become a victim of Ikonic t/a ESP. I checked them out when the first letter arrived, and they created a limited company in october last year. I smelt a ‘rat’, but since their first letter we have received two more rather threatening letters demanding money and saying they will take us to court. Well let them I say!! I have to laugh, if they are a proper business, then why isn’t their a contact name of their letters, and I have noticed the the signature is the same for every department, admin and credit control!! You can at a cost, apply for directors details for Ikonic, which will show the names and address of those involved. I may go down that route later, but at the moment I sit back and await their next course of action with interest.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I just got called by these people. I kept saying “I don’t remember this conversation” and they eventually hung up. I hope that’s the end of it.
April 17th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I had these people on my back for about 18 months, calling me some weeks two times a day. Sometimes they claimed to have recorded verbal permission from me and threatened legal action, sometimes they started the scam at the beginning - obviously they don’t keep very good records of where they are with their potential victims. Eventually I said I was recording the conversation too. Never heard from them again.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
HEY EVERYBODY! Got a plan; next time they call we all say in a sly voice:
—-
“I’ve been on the internet… I’ve been on usenet… WE’ve been on to trading standards… WE’re all out to get you!!!”
—-
I asked at a legal news group and they’ve not got a leg to stand on in court as it all started with a lie and it’s a known scam so they don’t want their face in front of a judge anyway.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
As for their claimed ‘Recorded phone calls of verbal agreements’ - if they recorded a call without your knowledge and consent; that’s illegal and can not be used as evidence in court.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Been having the same problem as everyone else, I requested a copy of the taped call and it would appear that have capabality to produce this now as we received it today. Firstly they have added that the call is taped at the begining of the recording. secondly, they are very clever and do not actually ask you confirm if you want these books, they only ask you questions about your business and get you to confirm your details. I am waiting to be taken to court as this should be interesting !!!!!
Just need someone to stop ESP from conitnuing to do this to people.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
following up from comment 21. Response from Trading Standards:
“Thank you for forwarding the information regarding the sponsorship scam. Please accept my apologies for the delay in getting back to you.
I’m afraid this does fit the profile of a typical publishing scam. I have checked Companies House for records of this supposed company and there is no trace of an incorporated business with this name. I have also checked the Royal Mail Postcode checker and it is clear that there is no such postcode.
The other information we would normally require to investigate further is a telephone number. I don’t suppose that you have a contact telephone number but if so please pass this unto us. If there is no record of a number then there is very little we can do realistically apart from the log the details of your complaint for future reference and in the end that we obtain more information.
Our complaints update has been updated with the information you have provided and we will cross reference this with any other info we receive regarding similar scams. Once again thank you for providing this information to us as it makes a real difference in eventually getting to the root of these scams. The file will be closed for action at this point unless you would like to add anything or query any of the information in this email.”
This is a fair response given the limited information we had available. My take aways are:
1) If these people contact you Trading Standards are happy, and would like, you to report the approach. Sending an email takes 5 mins.
2) There isn’t much they can do without some valid contact details, however if you have been sent an invoice or demand for payment that will be useful to them.
3) The more of us report - the more likely these people will get caught.
Sorry for the big comment - but I thought it would be useful for people.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Which company were they meant to be investigating Richard?
April 18th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Matt - my email to trading standards copied below.
“Dear Sir/Madam,
My company […] has been contacted this morning by a person we believe may be carrying out an educational book sponsorship scam.
A caller claiming to be from “Educational Support Publications Limited” contacted us, claiming we had agreed to sponsor a safety publication to be distributed in schools in December: we had not. The caller was unable to provide my colleague […] a contact address or telephone number though did provide a postcode M18 6RB (which we believe may be false), and went by the name of “Chantelle”. Upon checking this is similar to a known scam reported in the media.
Please advise if this is a matter of interest to you, or there is any way in which we can assist you in this matter. As a matter of course we will retain any documentation received and document any further contact.”
As above I would encourage people to contact trading standards if they are being harassed, and provide them with with any evidence they receive. I think that the response I received indicates this is not considered to be a waste of their time, that the behaviour of somebody calling about a verbal agreement for sponsored books for schools is at best suspicious, and that trading standards welcome our assistance to help them protect us.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I read about somebody who received an invoice from those guys and at the bottom of the invoice it said Educational Support Publications trading as Ikonic Publications so maybe your should get them to check out Ikonic instead?
April 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Has anyone had an invoice from The Safety Group, for a publication called the Safety awareness journal, in which they claim you have placed an advertisement. They are based in Bolton.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Hiya - my letter and invoice is from Education Support Publications at Unit 92 2 Sawley Road M40 8BB; tel number 01061 205 9065; The Safety Guide for Primary School Children is published by Core Media Concepts on 0161 476 2553. I should contact trading standards with this information. I am getting one or two calls everyday. This blog is v v v v helpful.
Cheers.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Steve (53) see post 19. Eventually got them to answer their phone by ringing 3 times then hanging up for about 5 mins solid. just wasted as much of their time as poss. Apparently guy was a part time PE teacher just helping out children….yeh right.
April 20th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Thanks Richard, so far I have had just the one call, and had a letter addressed to Mr Simpson, who doesn’t exist may I add, and then an invoice due to be paid 27/04/08, I will wait for their call after the due date, which I am expecting. I will then do as I said in my previous post (35) and wait their reaction, should be a laugh.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
I am also in receipt of an invoice and office copy of the book (A Safety Guide for Primary School Children) from ESP or Education Support Publications with the address as 54 and am glad to know that I am not suffering from Alzheimers as I could not remember a previous phone call where I had agreed to support this and thought well maybe I had. So this is why I agreed to support when I had the phone call last week. I am going to report this at my local Police Station and take the evidence along to Trading Standards. I am so pleased that I listened to my gut feeling on this and that I found all this information. Thank you so much.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Watch out for a company called Taylor Christian in the Wirral, who seem to be running the same scam.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I WILL GIVE £30.00 CASH TOWARDS THE BOUNTY ON THE HEADS OF (Educational Support Publications Limited).
Payable after a conviction, to any individual who can provide enough proof or solid evidence to bring them to justice.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I had a call from ESP this morning. She informed me I had agreed to sponsor them back in November and that my books were ready for distribution. I thought I must of forgotten about it (I assumed it was one of those surveys carried out in the street by Marketing companies etc) I went through the motions and she asked if there were any particular schools I would like to nominate so I asked for my daughters school to have some. She was very clever and convincing, until she said we agreed to pay £240! I disputed this stating I would never agree to something like this unless directly through a school, and asked whom it was she spoke to. She then said the company name and I said I wanted the name of the individual she had spoken to, only for her to sign loudly and hang up. After reading your posts I am about to send a mail off to the Trading Standards office - goodness help her if she rings me back, I’m going to let off an air horn down the phone!
April 24th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
We are also have trouble with Core Media Concepts. Phoned my husband at work (on site), he asked for the information to be sent to him. After seeing the books and talking to various people we decided no to go ahead. Had another phone call where he informed them of this. Then had another book sent. Sent a fax and letter advising not interested. Had a letter and cd arrive today with a “verbal agreement”. It started off with this conversation is being recorded for training purposes, then went on to confirm name etc. They advised that the book would be sent in the post with the invoice and asked if that is okay. My husband agreed. We now have the Dept Group Finances, Sawley Road Manchester M40 8BB on to us threatening legal action and County Court judgements. This is also printed by Carroll-dillon publishing. We cannot afford to be taken to court. Any advise?
April 24th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Hi Bobbie, in comment 37 ‘Eric’ suggested that you have a a cooling-off period of seven working days with distance selling so it seems to me if you have tried to cancel and faxed them you are within your rights to do so in any case. I would contact trading standards.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Hi Bobby - any adverts that I have taken out for my business I have signed a contract - as I understand it a verbal agreement is not enough. I am going to get some legal advice and will let you know what they say. Cheers
April 24th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Bobbie, you are within your rights to cancel and do have a cooling off period. Return the books, contact Trading Standards, tell CMC that you’ve done this and be firm with them that you do not want to be involved. This is a scam. They will never take this to court. Carroll-Dillon have a history of fraud and have been the subject of police investigations before. One of their directors was convicted of fraud for the same scam in 2002. His brother now appears to run the company. Tell them to get lost.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Here you go:
Carroll-Dillon
Posted in Crime, News by Neil Michael on April 3rd, 2006
THE publishers of a controversial booklet which offers under 12s detailed information about hard-core drugs have close family and business links with a convicted fraudster who masterminded a similar, €1 million scam in the UK.
Andrew Bates - a director of Dublin publishing firm Carroll-Dillon - is the younger brother of Ian Bates, who was lucky to escape with a suspended sentence when he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud four years ago.
Carroll-Dillon Publishing, whose Irish activities were exposed by Irish National Teachers Organisation president John Carr, also paid for Ian Bates, 44, to stay at a four-star Dublin hotel earlier this year.
Ian Bates fled to Ireland after his conviction at Manchester Crown Court in 2002.
Although disqualified from becoming the director of a UK company for five years, he set up a string of short-lived publishing ventures in Ireland, all of which have since been dissolved.
However, in March 2005, his younger brother Andrew, aged 41, and Violet O’Sullivan - the 50-year-old wife of a business partner Barry O’Sullivan - founded Carroll-Dillon Publishing, which trades from a small backstreet office in Herbert Lane, Dublin 2.
Barry O’Sullivan - who is not a director of Carroll-Dillon - claimed never to have heard of Ian Bates - and insisted that Bates’ brother Andrew was only a ‘nominal’ director of the company.
Last week, INTO president John Carr slammed Carroll-Dillon publication Issues: A Child Protection Handbook as being totally unsuitable for children.
The teachers’ leader also condemned the tactics employed by Carroll-Dillon, which approaches private businesses around the country and asks them to sponsor 30 books at a cost of €250 for their local national school.
The batch arrives at the school shortly afterwards – without prior consultation with teachers, school management or parents – with a credit for the sponsoring company on the front page.
Mr Carr said his union has received a substantial number of complaints from teachers about the book.
It has not been approved by the Department of Education though 35,000 copies have been distributed to 400 primary schools.
Carroll-Dillon boasts of connections with top building firms like Laing in the UK and the London branch of the GAA - for whom they produced a yearbook.
But their modus operandi is uncannily similar to that which landed Ian Bates in the dock of a Manchester courthouse in 2002.
O’Sullivan last night insisted: “I have never heard of a man called Ian Bates nor have I ever had any business dealings with a man by that name.
“There is a man called Andrew Bates who is more of a nominal director and the last time I spoke to him was last November.”
Amazingly - despite the fact that he said he only employs Andrew Bates on “an accountancy level” - he claimed not to be able to provide a contact number for Bates, or even the UK arm of his own publishing company.
He added: “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
O’Sullivan’s reluctance to discuss his links to Ian Bates - whose March 20, 2006 stay in Rm 379 of Dublin’s Mespil Hotel was booked by Carroll-Dillon Publishing - is understandable.
The former debt-collector ran an elaborate scam which netted him and colleagues more than £750,000 (€1m) by conning people into thinking an anti-drugs booklet for children and published by his UK firm Fullerton Publications was legit.
Well-meaning small businesses were persuaded to hand over cash to pay for adverts in booklets Bates wrongly claimed had official police, government and National Union of Teachers backing.
Telesales staff tricked more than 7,000 people into believing they were helping in a nationwide crime prevention initiative that would reach 300,000 UK schools.
The sales teams were also instructed to pretend the people they called that they had actually been contacted previously and had already agreed to buy ads in the bogus booklets.
Premier Services - a debt recovery company linked to Bates and his colleagues - mailed threats of legal action to anyone who refused to pay for the adverts.
The threatening letters were sent on out-of-date county court forms and despite never having agreed to buy adverts, people still paid up.
As a result of an undercover sting and a joint Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council Trading Standards inquiry that lasted three years, Bates was convicted of conspiracy to defraud.
Although initially pleading innocent despite more than 200 witness statements against him and two other colleagues Gary Callaghan and Peter Kemp, Bates eventually pleaded guilty.
Callaghan, formerly of Mottram Rise, Stalybridge, received a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years while Bates - formerly of Egerton, Bolton - received a nine-month sentence, also suspended for two years.
The two men - who both later moved to Ireland - were also banned from being the directors of UK companies for five years.
One of their Irish ventures, Irish Safety Books Ltd, was struck off in June last year after failing to file any accounts since its incorporation five years earlier.
Previously, the Revenue Commissioners had obtained two judgments against the ompany, for €80,000 and €51,000.
ISB had published a booklet about child abuse awareness while another of the duo’s companies, Guardian Publications Ltd, brought out a publication called Crime Prevention Yearbook.
In both cases, businesses were ‘cold-called’ to support the publications with adverts. Guardian Publications was also liquidated a number of years ago.
ENDS.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Thanks for all your advice. The cooling off period may be a problem as this has been going on since begining of April. My husband initially couldn’t remember speaking to them. We didn’t think the books were suitable so they sent another copy (of the same one), then we sent the fax.
I think the trading standards route is probably the best way forward and a quick work with a solicitor just to make sure our credit rating doesn’t get affected.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Just a bit of advice to those of you small business that get pestered by cold callers & junk mailers. You should join the T.P.S.(The Telephone Preference Service) & M.P.S.(The Mailing Preference) They are free to join & basically any company useing direct marketing has to check your name against these lists & if you are on it, they are not allowed to contact you. If they do, say I am T.P.S registerd & I will be reporting your business. here is the link for T.P.S. & M.P.S. http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/ http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
April 25th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I actually agreed to the books, because when they called they caught me at a bad time and i had previously been on the net donating some money to a legitimate cause. But since then i’ve told them that i’m not paying them anything when they call i have a bit of fun and do one of three things. Leave the phone unattended until they’ve gone, hang up, or speak to them in a made up langauge. They have threatened me with court but i have a full time legal team who recouver bad debts for me and they have told me that they won’t take anyone to court because no judge will ever take them seriously. Everyone stop worrying, they said they would hand it to there legal team a month ago and still the same people call. They will do nothing, Pay them nothing, just don’t worry!
April 28th, 2008 at 11:09 am
I too am a sole trader , and i too have had an a letter from educational support publications asking for £149.00 so that they can send 20 copies of their book to local schools.I cannot recall ever getting a phone call from them .
On reading through the book there was no mention of sponsership,or which schools it would be sent to .
A lot of my work deals with local schools , so i visited one this morning, THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE COMPANY,and also they had not recieved their copy of the book . On phoning the company , it was answered by a woman who sounded as though she had just got out of bed When i started to ask questions about this book , there was verbal abuse,and then she hung up . MIND THE SCAM YOU SMALL TRADERS , IT YOU THEY ARE AFTER.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
our effort–
Ikonic Publication T/A Educational Support Publications
Unit 96,
Cariocca Business Park,
2 Sawley Road,
Miles Platting,
Manchester,
M40 8BB
29th April 2008
To whom it may concern,
We are in receipt of a sample of a book entitled ‘I can feel happy, I can feel safe’ and an invoice from you for the sum of £99 purporting to be in accordance with an agreement made by verbal agreement in March 2008 to enter into sponsorship with you.
We hereby deny any knowledge of said verbal agreement made to anyone at your company.
Will you please forward to us the following:
Proof of the conversation,
Proof of a contract,
Proof of the advertisement,
Proof of distribution,
Any information held against our company or any of its employee’s, as per data protection act.
If you are unable to provide proof of any one of these you should cease further demands for payment which may be considered harassment under the Administration of Justice Act which is a criminal offence.
Regards
May 1st, 2008 at 2:38 pm
this is all very interesting! I was hunting a phone number for Core Media Concepts as we are a school who have received some of these books but are absolutely appalled at the quality of the printing and spelling. There is no way they are suitable for children because of this. After initial contact from the company we have been awaiting a return call to give a date for collection of these books and replacement with a different book. I don’t think I want a repalcement now!! Looking at previous comments here I’m not too sure what to do next!
May 1st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Hi
These fraudsters @ E.S.P have been phoning for months now demanding £199.00 for not a lot.It seems to have become a bit of a game. Us demanding they take us to court and them demanding money. We all know that a court appearance will never occur, may be we should get together and take them to court. If you wish to call them the numberis on their headed invoices. 01612059065. Good luck and pay them nothing.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 am
The number I have for Core Media is: 0161 476 2553
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Glad I Found this site. We also have fallen victim to the same scam.
I was actually quite worried by the threatening tone of the phone calls and letters as I did not know if we were liable to pay the monies claimed £199. Especially as they claim to have recorded converstaions, and this is legally binding.
They are obviously just a bunch of crooks.
Silly us. But the bigger question is why and how are these individuals allowed to get away with this.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
I am registered with the TPS, I have told them (the safety group) that I have reported them to the TPS, they’ve not phoned me since. Now they are sending threatening letters, saying they have a verbal agreement. They are asking me to pay £9.99 for the privelidge of listening to it, or providing them with my e-mail address so they can send it to me. Probably with a virus, I am just ignoring them. If they persist, I will give them my local trading standards e-mail
address, I have alresady reported this to them.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Be very careful, they may not with hold their number sometimes as it could be a premium rate number & if you call them back to tell them to F-off, they might be scamming you that way. I would give all the numbers you obtain from these people to the police to assist with their enquires. If enough people make a noise, they might get off their butts & put an end to these awful scum bags ripping off small business’s. The only other thing to suggest is that all us small business’s sign a massive online petition & hand it to the police.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
i was impressed when i got my books
May 14th, 2008 at 9:24 am
hummm i spot a flame war about to start !
How can you be impressed by the naff that core media/esp/ikonic produce ?
The sample that got sent to us was produced cheap, had spelling mistakes, and looked like it was illustrated by a 2 year old.
not impressed
May 14th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Do bare in mind this is an open forum & also con artist scamming scum will come in here to try & play down the evil selfish sad example of humanity scum that they are.
Just feel sorry for them, as people at this kind of level will always have to watch their backs in life & will remain without true friends loyalty & trust & will no doubt die alone.