European Parliamentary Labour Party: : Consumer Chair slams member states inaction over City Guide fraud

Arlene McCarthy MEP said: "Since the year 2000 I have received complaints about the activities of the City Guide organisation. Indeed my own office has in the past received this mailing."

This scam operates by sending business a form asking for information and claims to be cost free. But in the small print if the business returns the so called free information form they are slapped with costs of 3000 euros a year. Businesses are then bullied and harassed until they pay up.

"This fraud has gone on now for 8 years and it is high time that the member state governments take urgent action and drive this cowboy operation out of business once and for all."

"It is unacceptable that business complaints have fallen on deaf ears and for example the sole trader behind the City Guide has been allowed to continue to peddle his fraudulent practice without facing the full force of the law.

"Even where he has been put out of business he has moved location to another member state. It seems the long arm of the law does not extend across our European borders. Small businesses are the backbone of our economies and should be protected from such fraudulent malpractice."

"I am calling on the member states to urgently take action and recognise the serious and damaging consequences of allowing this fraudster to continue to rip off business. I want the member states to commit to taking action during our debate."

Ben Butters - a spokesperson for the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: "Chambers across the EU are hearing from more and more businesses deceived by fraudulent ‘City Guide' type practices. Since such cases rarely reach the courts, the solution should clearly focus on prevention, rather than cure. MEPs and the Commission can play an important role in ensuring that national officials work together far more effectively in resolving this invariably cross-border problem."

Nikolaus Futter, President of the EADP, the representative of legitimate directory publishing organisations, said: "EADP has been fighting against these scams for forty years, and has promoted its Code of Practice as a label for lawful directory publishing activities. Every directory and database publisher who is a member of EADP must comply with the Code of Professional Practice"

Mr Futter added "EADP will continue its works on this matter and welcomes the initiative of Mrs McCarthy's oral question to the Council to clarify how Member States are struggling against these practices."

Arlene McCarthy MEP added: "My advice to anyone who receives a mailing from the European City Guide is to throw it away! The European City Guide concentrates on small businesses and individuals, and once it has obtained a signature by deception it pursues a strategy of intimidation and bullying to try and extract payment."

"The company has previously been pursued vigorously by Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading. It was eventually traced to the Catalan region of Spain. In 2003, a Spanish court fined the company heavily and shut it down for a year. But then it simply switches bases and opens up somewhere else using the same unscrupulous methods."/ -ENDS-

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Businesses who are victims of the scam should read the detailed advice at http://www.stopecg.org/

The EDAP - were founded in response to these types of scams 40 years ago, and I the link to their code of practice is http://www.eadp.org/index.php?q=aboutusm6

The EADP advise businesses receiving bills that they suspect are part of a scam to not pay over any money and check immediately with the EADP, their local Chamber of Commerce, or a responsible authority locally.

The Financial Services Authority advises companies on how to avoid scams. Its website is http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/scams.

The key points from the oral question (for the full text email suzanne.richards@easynet.co.uk):

Are Member States aware of the magnitude of this problem for the European business community, and particularly for SMEs? What have they taken to close down these rogue 'directory companies'?
Are Member States prepared to exchange information or best-practice among their market surveillance authorities in order to warn them about fake 'directory companies' operations as well as their managers/owners?
What measures are being undertaken to close loopholes created in the transposition of the Misleading Advertising Directive (84/450/EC)?
Have Member States launched or joined prevention and awareness-raising campaigns aimed at warning the business community about the threat of fake 'directory companies'?
What has been done by Member States to assist the companies who fell victims to these fraudulent practices?
Do Member States agree that the Directive on unfair commercial practices (UCP) which also applies to advertising and aspects of misleading advertising directed at consumers, should be extended to business-to-business (B2B) transactions?

For further information please contact Suzanne Richards in Arlene's office on 0161 909 5107 or 07811 175617 or email suzanne.richards@easynet.co.uk or call the European Parliamentary Labour Party press officer, Silke Thomson on +32 479 790 053.


Home Labour MEPs EPLP Spokespeople Michael Cashman MEP Richard Corbett MEP Robert Evans MEP Glyn Ford MEP Neena Gill MEP Mary Honeyball MEP Richard Howitt MEP Stephen Hughes MEP Glenys Kinnock MEP David Martin MEP Linda McAvan MEP Arlene McCarthy MEP Claude Moraes MEP Eluned Morgan MEP Brian Simpson MEP Peter Skinner MEP Catherine Stihler MEP Gary Titley MEP Glenis Willmott MEP What does an MEP do? Current Issues Myths & Lies Publications News Subscribe Get the latest news by email Get news via an RSS feed » More info		Printer friendly version Consumer Chair slams member states inaction over City Guide fraud 20 May 2008, 3:56pm Labour’s Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, Arlene McCarthy MEP, demanded today that Member States take urgent action to crack down on EU wide dodgy directory scams that are robbing business of thousands of pounds. Arlene McCarthy MEP said: "Since the year 2000 I have received complaints about the activities of the City Guide organisation. Indeed my own office has in the past received this mailing." This scam operates by sending business a form asking for information and claims to be cost free. But in the small print if the business returns the so called free information form they are slapped with costs of 3000 euros a year. Businesses are then bullied and harassed until they pay up. "This fraud has gone on now for 8 years and it is high time that the member state governments take urgent action and drive this cowboy operation out of business once and for all." "It is unacceptable that business complaints have fallen on deaf ears and for example the sole trader behind the City Guide has been allowed to continue to peddle his fraudulent practice without facing the full force of the law. "Even where he has been put out of business he has moved location to another member state. It seems the long arm of the law does not extend across our European borders. Small businesses are the backbone of our economies and should be protected from such fraudulent malpractice." "I am calling on the member states to urgently take action and recognise the serious and damaging consequences of allowing this fraudster to continue to rip off business. I want the member states to commit to taking action during our debate." Ben Butters - a spokesperson for the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: "Chambers across the EU are hearing from more and more businesses deceived by fraudulent ‘City Guide' type practices. Since such cases rarely reach the courts, the solution should clearly focus on prevention, rather than cure. MEPs and the Commission can play an important role in ensuring that national officials work together far more effectively in resolving this invariably cross-border problem." Nikolaus Futter, President of the EADP, the representative of legitimate directory publishing organisations, said: "EADP has been fighting against these scams for forty years, and has promoted its Code of Practice as a label for lawful directory publishing activities. Every directory and database publisher who is a member of EADP must comply with the Code of Professional Practice" Mr Futter added "EADP will continue its works on this matter and welcomes the initiative of Mrs McCarthy's oral question to the Council to clarify how Member States are struggling against these practices." Arlene McCarthy MEP added: "My advice to anyone who receives a mailing from the European City Guide is to throw it away! The European City Guide concentrates on small businesses and individuals, and once it has obtained a signature by deception it pursues a strategy of intimidation and bullying to try and extract payment." "The company has previously been pursued vigorously by Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading. It was eventually traced to the Catalan region of Spain. In 2003, a Spanish court fined the company heavily and shut it down for a year. But then it simply switches bases and opens up somewhere else using the same unscrupulous methods."/ -ENDS- NOTE TO EDITORS: Businesses who are victims of the scam should read the detailed advice at http://www.stopecg.org/ The EDAP - were founded in response to these types of scams 40 years ago, and I the link to their code of practice is http://www.eadp.org/index.php?q=aboutusm6 The EADP advise businesses receiving bills that they suspect are part of a scam to not pay over any money and check immediately with the EADP, their local Chamber of Commerce, or a responsible authority locally. The Financial Services Authority advises companies on how to avoid scams. Its website is http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/scams. The key points from the oral question (for the full text email suzanne.richards@easynet.co.uk): Are Member States aware of the magnitude of this problem for the European business community, and particularly for SMEs? What have they taken to close down these rogue 'directory companies'? Are Member States prepared to exchange information or best-practice among their market surveillance authorities in order to warn them about fake 'directory companies' operations as well as their managers/owners? What measures are being undertaken to close loopholes created in the transposition of the Misleading Advertising Directive (84/450/EC)? Have Member States launched or joined prevention and awareness-raising campaigns aimed at warning the business community about the threat of fake 'directory companies'? What has been done by Member States to assist the companies who fell victims to these fraudulent practices? Do Member States agree that the Directive on unfair commercial practices (UCP) which also applies to advertising and aspects of misleading advertising directed at consumers, should be extended to business-to-business (B2B) transactions? For further information please contact Suzanne Richards in Arlene's office on 0161 909 5107 or 07811 175617 or email suzanne.richards@easynet.co.uk or call the European Parliamentary Labour Party press officer, Silke Thomson on +32 479 790 053.