Have you received demands for money from International credit assessment agency / ICAA Cyprus on behalf of Expo Guide?
If so, you might like to read this thread first.
Don’t forget to read the 400+ comments too. Hopefully you’ll be reassured that you’re the victim of a global scam. This means they can’t take you to court in any country because THEY are the ones who would be sent to prison 
Find out more about these scams from Richard Corbett MEP.
It also means that the ‘ICAA Ltd Cyprus’ acting on Expo Guide’s behalf to try to bully money out of you doesn’t actually exist. Nor does ‘Fobble International’ or ‘Waldberg and Hirsch’ or any of the other names they pretend are debt collection agencies.]
Their ‘websites’ are simply fronts to make you think they are a real business and out to get you. Don’t be fooled.
Hi there, one of my co-worker made a mistake to fill up the form from Expo Guide without knowing this is a payable contract because the detail of the payment term written in very samll words, they intend to cheat us. And now, ICAA represent Expo Guide threat to take us to court. What can we do? Do we need to pay money? Ifwe do, my co-worker wil lbe fired bu my boss. Please help to give some suggestion. Did you experience similar situation?
Hi,I have situation like you, and I don’t know what to do, do you maybe have some news regarding your situation?
Hi there, I also had a similar expeience. It is prominently mentioned as free insertion and just to confirm the data they have collected and published without our knowledge and consent. On receiving mail from Expo Trade, that the insertion is payable, on the same day a reply mail msg was sent to them that we are not interested, which they have avoided, and this clearly shows their intension of cheating. Please give your suggestion to handle and get out of the rigmarole.
My suggestion is very simple:
You don’t need do ANYTHING except ignore them. But you do need to understand and believe that these people can’t DO anything to you. That’s the most import thing here.
aye mine has been going on since 2008, with occasional letters etc, same as most people, i had got in touch with the Gift fair people in Auckland after the first lot of letters arrived and told it was a scam.
But its all made me very wary of returning any document nowadays.
And now its all back again with e mails from this ICCA. and a lady helen Simpson.
has anyone ever phoned the office they report to have, but seriously best to ignore the whole thing.sadly reading the posts they have managed to terrifly slot of people
ah well onwards and up
Slainte
bob
Hi here, I also received similar calling and mails from ICCA, a man on the behalf of ICCA said their company tried to find a solution between EXPO GUIDE and us, I asked them why they still help them to solve this problem although they knew all the traps EXPO GUIDE took? They just said because EXPO GUIDE is their client. Finally, I still didn’t agree with the solution which they supply, and they threat me that they will transfer those documents to their leagal department. I hope if there is any association could help to solve this matter completely, not still a scam coming again and again.
HI All. How can you all be so Stupid? If you don’t read what you’re signing then you deserve everything you get. Call yourselves business people? Little children more like, who need leading through life by the hand, just so you don’t trip up… Get a grip people. Take responsibility for your own mistakes. Stop blaming others!
Vespasian was a debt collector wasn’t he? Thank you for the clues. Your IP address resolves to Cyprus (why am I not surprised?) You’re well-educated, with English clearly as your mother tongue, you’ve used an email address with a connection to debt collecting and a UK ISP, you demonstrate contempt and hostility for the victims of this scam plus you’re here commenting! All of which pins you as one of those tri-lingual kids ICAA has making threatening calls on commission. Was I close?
Now, your obvious bias aside, I have to say that you’re 1/2 right in your comment: people who don’t read small print are half responsible. The other half of the responsibility however falls on the people behind Expo Guide and people like you in ICAA who wake up every day and consciously set out to frighten people into giving you their hard-earned money.
When all’s said and done I believe that just because people tend to make mistakes doesn’t make it ok for other people to deliberately set out to exploit them.
But, ‘vespasian’, that’s just a personal life choice we all have to make, isn’t it?
Wow! I looked into this because a friend of mine had received the paper work from expo guide, but like me, he reads before signing. Now all of a sudden you accuse me of being a champion for these people? What is your agenda Mr Deeks? How much does your S.E.O cost you every month and how could such a cost possibly benefit you? Fess up Mr Deeks what’s in it for you? Oh and by the way…Vespasian was Emperor in Rome from Ad69. He had the colloseum built. But as to collecting debts….Not that I know of! And to set the record straight I run my own driving school. Like Vespasian, I don’t collect debts. One last thing. At no time did I give you permission to publish my private e mail address. Kindly remove it. Thank you.
My agenda? Save people money from scammers. Simple. Yours? You seem to think it’s ok for people to rip of careless people. Like I said, that’s ok for you but not for me.
How much does my SEO cost me? Nothing. It’s a blog.
I appreciate me telling me your reason for coming to this post. I’ll take your email address off happily (doesn’t matter to me).
Lastly – what do I get out of publishing this stuff? Nothing except the considerable satisfaction of having saved another person from sleepless nights and wasting £1,000 at the hands of these bullies.
Like you, I received the Expo Guide invite. Like you I’m too observant to fall for con tricks like that. But unlike you, I put my observation to work for other people. You just came here and poured scorn on them.
Seriously, what’s so hard for you to believe about that, vespasian?
Firstly my apologies for the delay in replying. I wanted to take the time to explore this issue a little further. This whole “scam” seems to revolve around the fact that these individuals have not taken the time to read the order form and the covering letter that accompanies it with due care and attention. Now I’ve done a little research and in some countries(Austria for instance) there is legislation in place that states to not do so from a business perspective is in fact negligence. Leaving legislation aside surely common sense would tell you to read something properly before signing it? Now if Expo Guide are relying on people not reading something properly it’s a pretty weak scam don’t you think? and in my opinion hardly needs a moral crusade to right it. Let me ask why you don’t start a similar campaign to ensure that people DO read the fine print? I find it interesting that sites such as this which claim to protect individuals, actually do the oposite because all they do is encourage people to act without any sense of responsibility and in doing so you are helping to perpetuate the nanny state, which in my opinion is not a good thing because you simply engender a society who can’t asses risk or accept responsibility, because it’s never their fault. Tripped over a kerb? sue the council! Burnt your mouth on a hot cup of coffee? sue the coffee shop! Where will it end Mr Deeks?
You have repeatedly told people not to pay and that Expo Guide won’t take them to court. Let me ask what if EG do take people to court? haven’t you been negligent in your advice and will you pay all legal costs for them?(By the way where is your disclaimer in this regard? I can’t seem to find it!
Thanks for commenting, Vespasian.
You comment explains why these scams originated Austria then.
Like I said before, I agree with you about personal responsibility. But in this real world, people aren’t all as vigilant, aware or water-tight as you are. The difference between you and me (as I’ve pointed out before) is that you seem to be arguing that its ok for someone to set out to fool unwary people whereas I don’t. Or are you seriously arguing that these forms AREN’T designed deliberately to mislead at all?
The only people hurt by these posts and the comments from all those hundreds of ‘customers’ who universally feel they’ve been scammed / ripped off / tricked (call it what you will) are Expo Guide, World Business Register, TEMDI etc – because they’re costing them money. I know that, they know that and you know that.
So why so much effort to try to make me look like I’m the evil one? Did you even notice that I respected your request to take off your email address in your previous comment? That’s an example of just how evil I am
Mr Deeks
You ask, Do I think it is ok to deliberately set out to deceive someone? Of course not! Does it happen?(this being “real life”)Yes it does! How,in this instance, can we stop it happening? By nothing more than reading what’s in front of us! Nothing complicated Mr Deeks. No special secret skill required, just the patience to read the text .
As I said before, if it’s a scam, it’s a weak one. Does this really deserve a moral crusade or should we just learn to take responsibility for our actions? We run a business. We could be signing away that very business and all because?……… Personal responsibility or the eternal cry of…. “It’s not my fault”!
I leave it to you to decide.
Here’s what I’ve decided.
Earlier, you claimed your friend received papers from Expo Guide but like you, he was far too smart to sign them. If that was the case, then he wouldn’t have received any communication from ‘ICAA Ltd Cyprus’ since they act as debt collectors for Expo Guide and he wouldn’t have been in debt to Expo Guide.
In which case, it’s far more likely that you would have Googled ‘Expo Guide’ and commented on any one of my posts about Expo Guide. Of course you would – especially since there are literally hundreds of people for you to get your rocks off blaming there.
But you didn’t. You came here and posted here. Since there are no links from my posts about Expo Guide to this page, I can only surmise that you came here directly after searching Google for ‘ICAA Ltd Cyprus’. Why would you Google ‘ICAA Ltd Cyprus’ if you’d never fallen foul of Expo Gude? The only explanation would be that you have an interest in ICAA Ltd.
Add to that the fact that you’re a native English speaker – just like those young ex-pats that Expo Guide has sitting in Cyprus bulling people over the phone, introducing themselves as debt collectors for ‘ICAA Ltd’. Then add to that the fact that the last two IP addresses you commented from resolve to Cyprus.
Then, you’re the only person here blaming Expo Guide’s victims for the fact that Expo Guide has ripped tens of thousands of them off to the tune of more than £1,000 each. And, finally, you’re also the only person here to condemn me for trying to save ordinary business people from unnecessary stress and financial loss.
You’re welcome to continue commenting if you want, but it won’t make any difference to the impact of this post in Google
2+2=6, no wait it’s 3 damn what was it again? Totaly lost the plot Mr Deeks? Secret agents? working for a company you claim doesn’t even exist?(please do pray tell how that is possible) Credibility shot to hell Mr Deeks? Oh and why do you keep editing/changing your posts? Does it really take you so long to construct a credible answer? oh and please explain one other thing. I supposedly work for a company that in your own words doesn’t exist so they can’t be where they claim to be, which is Limassol, Right? Now where do the ip address resolve to? PAPHOS? and LATSIA. You also claim I’ve condemned you. Where? Your credibility is shot to hell and you didn’t even need my help!
Lol. I edit posts to make sure that I get my point across clearly.
Either way, you’re entitled to your view – which (just to refresh readers here) is that the victims of this scam deserve what they get for not reading the small print and I’m wrong for advising them not to pay.
Like I said before, your comments here aren’t going to make any more people pay ICAA Ltd.
Its a pity that you’re unlikely to reveal your identity (that’s another difference between us, by the way). We might have a better conversation if you did
We might have a better conversation if you did
I doubt it mr Deeks. It’s like conversing with a teenager……lols? smileys? whatever next! I’ll ask you again Personal resposibilty or the cry: “It’s not my fault”?
One more thing. You questioned me about location:
“I supposedly work for a company that in your own words doesn’t exist so they can’t be where they claim to be, which is Limassol, Right? Now where do the ip address resolve to? PAPHOS? and LATSIA.”
Whether or not ICAA Ltd is a bona fide business, the evidence points to the fact that the people calling the victims of this scam and demanding money for Expo Guide are doing so from Cyprus.
I have no idea WHERE those people physically are in Cyprus. It could be Limassol, it could be anywhere else. It doesn’t matter.
I pointed out that your IP addresses resolve to Paphos and Latsia to make the point that you’re somewhere in Cyprus. If you knew about IP addresses, you’d already know the following two important things:
1) IP addresses resolve to a hub or server used by your ISP, not to your physical computer. This is usually a reliable indicator to the country you’re posting from.
2) By the same logic, the computer you commented from each time *could* just as easily be in Limassol as anywhere else in Cyprus.
So, to remind you of what I said:
• ‘ICAA’ calls originate in Cyprus.
• Your comments originate in Cyprus.
Nothing in that disproves the possibility of your working for Expo Guide – however, the above things plus your lack of empathy for the victims of this scam and your hostility towards me for doing something to help those people does start to suggest that possibility.
I’m just telling you how it looks and will leave it to anyone who bothers to read this thread to form their own impression of who you are and what your agenda is for posting here.
C’mon Vespasian. That’s me right there on the front page of this blog. Nothing to hide.
Your turn.
I never denied living in Cyprus. You are going round in circles and inventing things. Hostile toward you? NO! Lack of sympathy(Not empathy) for people who bleat about being ripped off when it’s their own fault it happened) ABSOLUTELY! I reserve my sympathy for those who genuinley need it. Those with terminal diseases,those made homeless through force of nature,those who suffer in war zones etc etc. Need I go on? I’ll leave you to your band of “Business people”to have your group hug and wish you all well for the future. JUST DON’T FORGET TO READ THE SMALL PRINT.
Ok – well consider yourself group-hugged anyway
And yes. People really should read the small print.
Amusingly, here’s an email I came across just now on a Facebook group campaigning against European Business Guide (another version of Expo Guide from the same people). Note the first and last paragraphs particularly:
“Dear Ms Valerie,
I trust that all your questions have been answered and you should take responsibility for your actions instead of blaming everybody else but you for what you ordered on your own free will.
We will report you to the authorities in charge and we are curently working on a law suit against you for I also trust that the payment shall be collected from you for nobody but you is to blame for your erros and misunderstandings.
I also suggest in the future to read the documents you sign to avoid causing financial damages and such unpleasant situations to other companies.
Denisse Toutzec”
Now, where have I heard those sentiments before?
I’m not quite following this with regards to Mr. Vespasian, did it turn into Mr “I Read the small print”?
Anyway, what a git. Not all contracts are fair and binding in law and I’m pretty sure that Expo Guide have contracts that will not stand up in court. Why Mr “I Read the small print” even bothers is a bit of a mystery. As it says itself, there are other things in the world more pressing, especially if you are clever enough not to sign dodgy contracts. Methinks it protesteth too much.
Me? I just like to argue with gits!
Feel free to publish anything about me you care to dig up. I, unlike other posters here, have absolutely nothing to hide at all!
Hi Mark. Yeah, sorry. ‘Vespasian’ was the first part of the email address that Mr. ‘I read the small print’ used.
I know why he bothers: he’s one of the people behind the calls and the letters and he’s fucked off that this blog is costing them – HIM – money, that’s why.
What made it obvious?
1) He was the only person to ever post here unsympathetically
2) He came via a search for ‘ICAA Ltd Cyprus’, not via a post on Expo Guide as he claimed (meaning he already knew about this post)
3) He was posting from Cyprus, home of this scam and the calls and letters
4) He was fluent English (as are the people recruited to make the calls)
5) He used the exact same justification (‘it’s your own fault, you deserve to pay…’) contained in those ‘debt collection’ letters
Dear Mr. Deeks,
Thankyou for your kind infomations, I need it so much because i’m the one of the other victim. Now a can take the breath again because there’s no to worry about anything. By the way, what should i tell to them whether they call me again?
God bless you.
Cheers,
Kartika – don’t answer the call.
If you must answer it, then just stay silent and let them waste their money.
Ultimately, it’s entirely up to you what to do. All I can tell you is that if you answer the call and they sense that you are scared / worried / angry, they will continue bullying you.
They will keep doing this until THEY believe that you are not worth calling. It’s up to you how quickly they get to that point. If it was me, I would be playful and keep them talking while telling them that I wasn’t going to pay AND I was hoping to tie them up on the phone as long as possible to waste their time.
I’ve been ignoring EG & then INTERNATIONAL CREDIT ASSESSMENT AGENCY
since 2008.
this scamer operate on the victims fear.
just relax and enjoy the sun.
EG bully no one & ceases to exist.
Does somebody know Anna whose mail address is aw@icaacy.com?
My case is the same as the one who made a mistake to fill up the form from Expo Guide without knowing this is a payable contract.
She frightens me saying if I don’t pay by end of this week, she will continue the process with a legal letter affecting my company’s credit rating and full amount of the 3-year contract of $4,713.00 plus interest, penalties and legal costs.
“The lady harassing us is Ms Maria, account manager and her email is maria@eubs-ebg.net
This is one nasty rude b—-h who keeps on sending us daily emails since we made the mistake of calling them to cancel the insertion.”
Ken
ICAA is a fake debt collection company, same people as Expo Guide. Please don’t be afraid. They bully until you either 1) Pay or 2) Don’t pay. But they will bully either way – you have to prepare yourself for that. They’re powerless. You must just ignore them; nothing will ever happen to you. They have never taken ANYONE to court (because they can’t).
It’s unfortunate that this opportunity to expose a scam digressed into shouting matches – I see that all too often – but I am grateful nonetheless for the information.
I did not sign anything that (in my case) “originated” in Mexico. Letters and applications were stolen from a conference I attended in Chicago 4 years ago, that’s where it all began for me. It’s quite obvious on the documents they produced to me that a cut & paste job was done, inserting the legalese that they claim is the foundation for their “legal rights.” Equally the same with the supposed web pages. Nothing produced that anyone couldn’t create through quick cut & paste.
I ignored all the snail mail efforts, it was the phone call earlier today that rattled my cage. Yes, a well spoken woman who I believe is from the U.S., though she did say she was calling from Europe. (Blocked number) Anna White aw@icaacy.com
Hi Peter. Yes, someone couldn’t help themselves and had to try to blame the victims of this scam for their own misfortune. Nasty. My advice is to just ingnore them. If you communicate, they will bully you even harder because they’ll be nearer to ‘closing a sale’ (as it were).
Hello Sam. I keep getting calls from Helen Simpson and this was the last email I got from her :
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
28 July 2011
ref 324066
Dear Mr Magnani,
It is now obvious from you not only ignoring my calls today and now switching your mobile off, you are avoiding payment of your outstanding debt.
Again we feel we have tried our utmost in assisting you to resolve this matter with our client Expo Guide – OUT OF COURT.
You have failed to co-operate with us on behalf of our client.
You will now be receiving a Legal letter from our Lawyer/Legal department at ICAA.
You will have 5 banking days to respond/to make payment.
Payment by T/T or Credit Card (make sure you write your reference number on document)
Failing this, your file will be returned to our client on Wednesday 03 August 2011.
You will then be receiving in the near future a summons to appear , or to send a legal representative to represent you/your company in the court of law, as our client will proceed to redeem the full outstanding amount of USD 4,713.00 plus legal expenses,
Yours faithfully,
Helen Simpson
Senior Credit Manager
INTERNATIONAL CREDIT ASSESSMENT AGENCY
ICAA Ltd.
Tsacon Court
187A Leontiou Str. 4th Floor.
3020Limassol
Cyprus
P.O. Box 53397
3302 Limassol
Cyprus
Phone: +357 25 27 06 66
Fax: +357 25 27 07 77
E-mail: hs@icaacy.com
Website: http://www.icaacy.com
Should I ask the lady to just shut up and go to hell ? ???
Amit – be playful with them. Make them think you’re going to pay… get them excited and then tell them to go to hell.
I have been going through letters with EG for a few years now too with my organization. They claimed to publish our group for free at a convention (which the convention had not heard about them!) A friend of mine who is a lawyer had me send early on a registered letter stating that the organization will not pay.
From then on, if they try to contact me via letter, it is $1,000.00 penalty for each attempt because legally they cannot contact you to get money from you unless they take you to court. But, by then, their penalty will be more than what we would have to owe!
It had been several months since I heard from them, and then I got an email from xxxxxxxx xx@icaacy.com today. Freaked me out, but after reading this, I feel much more at ease. Thank you for the confidence and support. And another letter goes in the file, just in case…
[Editor's note: ICAA person's name removed on the request of Cori]
Cori, don’t worry! You’re safe. I’d recommend you just ignore them and get on with your life
Thanks! I plan to carry on. Thanks for the support.
Hi Sam,
Thank goodness for your posts!
I received a fax from Expo-Guide last year around July. In big letters at the top it said “UPDATE YOUR DETAILS”. This was during the time we were preparing for Electra Mining Africa and I was receiving lots of documents to update our details for the magazines here which go out for free at the show. I filled it in and faxed it back.
Next thing I knew I had an invoice. I immediately contacted Specialised Exhibitions (the event organisers) and they advised me that it was a scam and I should ignore it. Just in case I sent a letter to them requesting that they immediately cancel the listing as only a director can sign into any contracts here in South Africa nad that contract was therefore void.
Every now and then I received an invoice with interest added on and I just ignored it. But today I received an emails from the below demanding payment so it doesn’t get handed over. Before replying I Googled them and came up with your site. Well let’s just say you saved me from alot of stress!
“I read the small print” – you are one hateful person. I do read the small print but EVERYONE makes mistakes. This time I got caught.
Chris Michael
Senior Credit Manager
INTERNATIONAL CREDIT ASSESSMENT AGENCY
ICAA Ltd.
Tsacon Court
187A Leontiou Str. 4th Floor.
3020Limassol
Cyprus
P.O. Box 53397
3302 Limassol
Cyprus
Phone: +357 25 27 06 66
Fax: +357 25 27 08 81
E-mail: cm@icaacy.com
Website: http://www.icaacy.com
HI Casandra Thanks for your comment. Your experience is all standard stuff for these global scammers. Please try to ignore them, that’s all they deserve from you or anyone else.
Thanks Sam.
This morning I have another email from them saying they are will to accept a once off payment of accept a 1-off payment in the amount of USD 1,571.00
I will ignore them
Vespasian thank you for your kind words
NOT! (Yes I use Smiley faces as well)
I have to say this high standing company EXPO Guide have done a great job with me. I too signed without reading the small print but can say for sure shall not be doing it again! We all learn by our mistakes.
A scam is a scam, anyone involved should be held accountable. If indeed EXPO did not set this up as a scam. Surely after complaints and blogs have been popping up since 2008 any decent company would have changed its documentation and procedures so not to mislead. Looking through the various posts on many sites on this topic, it seems that a number of people have had exactly the same emails from expo as me? They must be well practiced by now a!
I do hope someone puts a stop to this.
A few days ago i received their the first of email notice ,i ignored it until she call me this afternoon.
Thanks sam, your recommendation is help for us.
M, thanks for that. You like little child with smiley-face!! So what if I’m commenting from Cyprus?!?! Lols.
For most of us on this forum have same problem. we had twice. one about 4 years back we discussed in length in our organization. The culprit ( the employee who signed) was handled very roughly for his carelessness. Our boss did all this handling.The case died itself as we found one circular from Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, to be vigilant and not to pay anything. Next year again the same thing happened this time the signatures were of our boss himself. The question is how can this happen? a case that had been discussed so loudly in the organization for so many weeks/months, how can be repeated? Did he really signed them? He did not remember signing such document. Or this was presented in such a manner that he does not remember at all.
It is very simple 1. Either some of papers are not signed at all. 2. Others presented in the manner it never gave the impression that it include any cost commitment.
From 3 years we have not paid anything. This company says it is still giving service. Most of us denied to continue immediately we came to know for such contact was signed, because most of us even till date don’t know what type of service/website are being run by these people and what is being shown on this website.
The intention of these people is not business but they are forcing people, a way of modern extortion of money by threatening, in different country where they can’t hire a lawyer or can’s pay the exorbitant legal charges. The innocent people want to have peaceful nights by paying them. what’s is all this. I am sure we should put them into criminal proceeding for all these charges. We have enough people and papers to do so. Someone should take the lead.
To read the conditions written in small letter, the first thing is why these are written in small letters? that too for so many years? how many of us have such a strong language writers for our mail, how many have lawyer who can write to international clients, how many have lawyers who will talk to cients internationally, how many have international credit assessment agency. how many people who run website will have anyone like this set up.
Court will go into deep and can know how much of their percent collection is through these lawyer’s threat. The poeple who have paid in all these years can be contacted through court and will definitely tell the story of extortion and make these peole pay for the sleep less nights they have provided people.
Daily we are signing various website ‘accept’. how many of us have read them even for once?
Good point, Sanjay. We sign our lives away without even thinking about it these days.
We were caught out too, and have written to Mexican Authorities etc (as that is where the original letters came from) now they have changed address to various locations around Europe.
I had a lovely man called Rick Andriotta call me on Friday looking to “come to a resolve and perhaps cancel some of the debt”. Being well aware of the fact that this is a scam, I shut him down at every opportunity by repeating “it’s a scam”. He threatened me with “you’ll regret this” (as I wan’t listening to his advice). Told me my superiors would me contacted, I asked him who my superiors were as I was my superior, another threat of “you’ll see”. I kept laughing at him, don’t think he liked it! He asked for our lawyers names etc, of course I handed them over…..NOT, he asked for my name to which I replied “Finance Director”.
Today I received an email into our generic email address with a very Americanised threatening letter. I forwarded this to our original exhibitor, whose name & logo Expo guide used illegally and they came back to me with this blog (had already found it myself and started typing furiously.
My next step is to ignore and if he/they call again they will receive a silent call!!!
Nicely done, Elaine. Can you imagine sitting down to your list of bullying calls for the day, knowing that your job is to try to scare people into giving you money so you can meet your nasty little targets and buy some beer with your scammer friends at the weekend in sunny Cyprus?
These guys use all kinds of things to make it *ok* to do what they do – including (and I suspect this is part of the ‘training’) telling themselves and you that it’s really your fault for not reading the small print and, well, they’re kind of doing you a favour making you more careful next time…
Hi All
I am also getting letters and phone calls from this Expo guide company. But thank you all for informing me. Now i am in a better position to deal with them. Thanx once again.
Our company has also been receiving threatening letters & calls. About a year ago, after many attemts to cancel through regular mail, sent a registered letter. I received no response. We then started to receive calls from Anna White (aw@icaacy.com) who is trying to ‘make a deal’ on the outstanding amount that we never signed up for. I will not be paying & will give the ‘pretend I’m listening’ as advised above.
I like that Margaret – “make a deal on the outstanding amount that we never signed up for”. Brilliantly put.
We (a nonprofit Austrian vintage car club where I am treasurer) are actually involved in such a demand by icaacy. The lady who is calling and mailing is German native speaker. All the scam in perfect German…
Thank you for this blog – now we know what to do…
In our case a (I suppose) former member (unreadable signature) of our club only changed the printed wrong adress to the adress of our president (which still isn’t the adress of our club). That was all. He didn’t change the wrong contact data. He didn’t fill out date or place of signment. And – obviously – he did’t read the small print…
Usually a contract has two sides, one of payment and one of goods and services.
What we never got – something like an equivalent for the (outstanding) payment. Something like a publication of Expoguide.
Has anyone seen something like that?
Hi Enrst – I think some of these scams go as far as putting your details on their website (takes 5 minutes of effort) and hope that will convince you that they’ve done ‘their side of the deal’. Of course, since it’s all a nasty scam anyway, it doesn’t make any difference – especially since neither you or anyone else I’ve ever had visiting this site actually WANTED their ‘services’ in the first place.
I guarantee you that they won’t produce a ‘hard copy’ of any directory because that would waste too much of their ‘profits’ and because the scam works without needing it. They know that a small percentage of people (about 3%) will pay a lot of money just by them mailing and phoning threats. That’s a good income.
Same story for us, we just ask for information, and then we received the invoices and recently the call. We wrote them saing we will proceed against them for acose and for publishing our brand without any permission. We are as far from the most of you as in Peru, so they are trying this all around the world. As somebody says, if just the 3% of us acced to pay it will be a lot of money. We will do nothing more from now.
Aten, don’t bother expressing anger towards them – to these guys anger = a cover for fear and they’ll bully you harder. 3% of people DO pay and it is a lot of money. Hopefully these posts cut into that 3% substantially – especially if now you ignore them and don’t pay.
Dear mr. Deeks,
Thank you so much for this website. We are a big trade school in the north of the Netherlands. One of our employees signed a form from Expo Guide Mexico in 2009 in error, he thought it was just about correcting company data (just like everybody else). In 2010 we started to receive letters from Expo Guide Mexico, they wanted € 1181,- yearly for an advertisment on their website for a contract of three years. Thanks to a lot of information on the internet I discovered it was a scam and told them so in a letter. They still kept sending letters, so in the summer of 2011 I wrote in a third letter I would not respond anymore. Then on thursday november 10th we were called by a guy named Rick Andreotti from International Credit Assessment Agency. At first I thought he was just an independent debt collector, he sounded pretty reasonable and friendly so I tried to explain the situation. He did not really listen and offered some kind of settlement. I refused and told him we did not want to settle and would not pay. Despite that he wrote us an Email (marked as urgent) to the general company E-mail adress on the same day offering us a settlement for € 2.362,- It was passed to me to take care of it since it had my name in it. So I looked them up on google and found your website. Now I know ICAA is part of the scam and that is really reassuring. We got a second E-mail last monday november 14th and I don’t care anymore. Thanks to you Sam Deeks.
PS I also found it very amusing one of the scammers themself has reacted on your blog. I just love to read his frustration.
Dear Mr. Deeks,
I am from China. We are facing the same threaten and a lady from ICAA Cyrpus who told us she was representing their customer Expo-Guide Mexico emailed and called us everyday. The story is as same as described here above and even the letters they gave us were as same as received by others. Even today we have received from them threatening us to meet in court.
We never give them any reply and in phone we have told them we would never pay one cent to them.
My suggestion is that if they dared to sue anybody, then everybody here will stand up and support the victims (of course except Mr. “read the small print”.
Thank you very much. Mr. Deeks. You are doing a right thing.
Good to hear, Demoscience.
One observation (that applies to everyone here): you’ve got to get past this ‘if they dared sue anybody’ thinking!
It’s not even in the frame. And so long as people think (and talk) like that, the scammers still have a chance. Sorry to be blunt, but that’s how it works.
Dear Mr. Sam Deeks
We are one more victim of this scam. Since last one month they are sending us legal notices and call us 3 to 4 times a week. Once i send them a mail stating that you cannot legally mail us or call us for payment. If you do we will fine your $5000 per communication. after that also they are sending us mail. As Per your advice and We have started ignoring them.
hi Sam you said [I guarantee you that they won’t produce a ‘hard copy’ of any directory because that would waste too much of their ‘profits’ and because the scam works without needing it.]
well I received a CD from them in 2010 (maybe I’m just special) it’s just the most useless thing. Probably sent to make me think I was getting something for the money they are trying to get from me.
I, like so many was initially caught out with the small print but managed to catch it on and follow it up with a letter to cancel, on my business headed paper. They managed to ignore this and also the one from my solicitor a few weeks later. They even managed to bill me for a 2nd year renewal.
Anyway ‘hats off’ and smileys to you Sam
Hi Joe
You’re absolutely right – the CD’s only purpose was to make you think they’d done ‘something’. These people will do whatever they think will create uncertainty and fear in the minds of their victims. Someone decided that sending out a few CDs is enough to tip some nervous victims over into paying and, in some cases, they’re right – so it’s a worthwhile strategy.
I hope other people reading this can see that sending letters and solicitors letters only works against you. It tells them you’re a) alive b) at a given address and c) worried.
Well done for not paying and do visit again to let people know how you get on.
Further to my email on 19.09.10, I have continued to receive letters from Temedi demanding payment every 3 months or so, all ignored of course. I have now received the ridiculous letter from “UN Legal Services” mentioned by others above, offering me cancellation of the “Contract ” for 861 euro! This will also be ignored. Hope this information helps.
Dear Sir,
Thank You
I would like to thank you very much for posting this. You saved me from getting heart attack, god bless you!
Maria, you’re welcome. Your comment is why I post about this scam. I’m glad to have been able to help.