Has anyone met this before? Here's what happened to me yesterday, and my theory about what's going on.

I was 'phoned by a very annoyed man, saying that "my organisation" had cold-called him while he was in a meeting. I told him I don't cold call, and as the 'organisation' is just me I'd know if I'd 'phoned anyone.

He said the caller gave the name of my business (actually they gave Purposeful Paths, which was the name before we transformed to NLP Catalysts) and was 'phoning from a call centre - there were noises of 'phones ringing and people talking in the background. Again, I assured him I don't use any kind of agency to call on my behalf.

By the way, he assumed PP was a large organisation because we're top of the list on Google - well yes, but only if you put the URL or exact business name directly into Google. We're all number one and 'large' on that basis!

When he'd calmed down, and accepted this call was nothing to do with me, he promised to let me know if anyone calls him again and to get as much information about them as he can.

I was bemused and couldn't work out what the angle might be. Then I remembered a cold call I'd taken a couple of weeks ago.

I was asked by the caller if I was looking for clients. "Of course."

"Well we have many clients all lined up and anxious to use your services - all you have to do is register with us." I didn't bother to find out how large the sum of money was they were looking for, or get much information about them. I ended the call and thought nothing more of it - after all, if that many people were anxious to be my clients, I'd be getting a large volume of calls direct, wouldn't I?

So I guess there's some unscrupulous agency (or several) out there trawling the web for smallish websites, posing as the business/practice concerned, and getting potential client details. Anyone who does pay the fee - guessing again - gets sent a list of names and 'phone numbers (at best).

So, I'm expecting another call with a similar 'we have clients' for you proposition soon. When it comes, I'll get their details and consider how to get them put out of business - permanently. This harms the reputation of anyone affected, and they're just riding on the back of those of us working hard to establish and grow our business in a legitimate way.

Has anyone else been affected by this scam, or think you have? I'd be interested to hear your experience and what you did about it.

Is my theory correct, or does anyone have another angle on this? Again, all thoughts welcome.

Yep. I get these often. So far in the past 12 months or so, I've sold 3 Alpha Stims and a couple of course places to cold callers. Funny thing is - many of the people that work in these scamming `call centres` just see it as a job and haven`t really thought about their role, nor their future in life....until they call me....

Heh!

Try a new game - sell something to the "sellers", it's great fun!

Great idea Andrew. When I get a junk call I automatically seek to get the caller off the line as rapidly as possible. I'll work on that and sell to them, or at least see what I can change.

Time to get those multiple income streams flowing even more strongly. Thanks for the inspiration.

Warmest regards,
Ian

..and the great part is..they NEVER hang up, unless you give them the option. The second part of my game is to see how long I can keep them on the `phone...

Record so far is 53 minutes.

Clearly, i have waaaay too much free time.

I've now found out who called me and the type of 'business' they are. Take care if called by 'UFindUs' - follow these links to find out more. I'd better say I've no evidence that they have called anyone claiming to be me - and I'm sure there's a thread on coincidence somewhere on NLP Connections too ...

Search and put UFindUs in the search box;

Ufindus - Blagger.com - The place to leave feedback and comments about companies you have used

This becomes more and more of a horror story but bears out Andrew's point about call centre staff.

I have had similar companies contact me, however it was by email. after doing some research I deleted there message. thank you for the heads up with UFindUs!

Hi Ian and anyone else who is intrested!

Check out:

Ufindus Scam

All the very best

James

Thanks for posting that link James - wow what bunch!

Anyone who's not already doing this - if you get a cold call always ask for details to be posted out to you or e-mailed (post is better as you may be opening up yourself to lots of interesting spam otherwise).

Clearly a refusal to commit to writing is a danger sign, and even if they agree it gives you a chance to reflect.

By the way, also be careful of anyone claiming to be operating on behalf of Google. I once refused to pay one of these operations and the guy said "fine, I'll remove your site from Google straight away sir." Utter and total nonsense.