Beware of a telephone scam from ' Ikonic Publications '

[magcaz]

Hi

I was called in May 2008 with saying would you like to sponsor some books with your company name on the book. and I said to them send me some details. Next mintue I am getting phone calls say that it is now due for payment last week i had about 20 calls from them I phoned my sister who said to me to phone our local tradeing standards she then went on to the web site and typed in the companies name and that is when we saw this Beware of a telephone scam from "Ikonic Publications" they where wanting my card details they where saying if i pay today i can get a discount. I told them today not to phone me as I am reporting them to the trading standards as they are a scam the man on the phone Leo said it is not a scam and they will keep on phoneing me every day and they will keep on hounding me and they will take me to court and i will get CCJ's

how can i get them off my back i do not have the money to pay as i am a sole trader and my bussiness is finding it very hard.

I phoned my local Trading standards they said i must write a letter saying that I have not entred into a contract and they must prove it if they cannot prove it then they must leave me alone.

Please can anyone give me any adivce[/quote]

 

[Morgy]

I phoned my local Trading standards they said i must write a letter saying that I have not entred into a contract and they must prove it if they cannot prove it then they must leave me alone.

Please can anyone give me any adivce

As above- why not do what trading standards have said

 

[magcaz]

Hi how did they some phoning you and houding you as i sometimes get about 10 calls a day..

Hey lucky people,
I would like to say that this scam has just happened to my father’s joinery company, "Site Safety" to him this means on a building site.... so I think he accepted unaware of the real nature of the call....
Luckily enough he didn’t make a payment and when the "invoice" came in it was for £149. When I looked up the company online after receiving a sample booklet of "Drugs Thugs and Internet Bugs" i found that the company address was different? and then Google showed me this site,

I would like to thank you for putting this on Google, without it it would not have been easy to know for sure it was a fake!

What now? Has anyone passed information to the police or the trading standards?

I think it would be a good idea to try and get the sort code and account number for the "company" as this would be able to track the person that opened the account? they mention on this letter that the can take payment by BACS or CHAPS thus they would need to give out the Bank Details.

Kind Regards,
Son of D Bain Joiner and building contractor - Danny.bainvirgin.net
As I am not alowed to post URL's put an at sign btween the bain and the virgin for my email address, XD

 

[thwizzkid]

i have read all your posts, and i have been in contact with these scammers to i also have the full adress of the sales office which you will not find on any of the books or leaflets. i have been to the trading standards of manchester and they are well aware of the company. what they are doing in regards to prosicution i do not know but here is the adress to the sales office in manchester:

Cedar House
2 Fairfield Street
Manchester
M1 3GF

it is in the same building as a friends work KEYTECH Security, i have conformation of this. i hope this information works well for you all. and i hope they get prosicuted aswell. i am doing exensive research into this company and finding a way to bring them down. as soon as i find the way i will post it for you guys, i am looking into getting the telephone numbers of the sales office to as it is these people who are the scammers, the have bare faced cheek to ring you and tell you that you have sponsored these POOR excuses of child saftey books!!

any questions please get in touch thankyou

 

[tc-prop]

I find it unbelievable that this outfit is still at it. People who are worried about them shouldn't be, i'm still waiting for their court summons they threatend me with 4 months ago and some more of there persistant phone calls, haven't heard from them since the begining of november.
Mind you there is a nice picture of Bates now on the mirror blogs web site - good looking fellow - not!
Lets just hope with all the comments on all forum sites and the investigations from Penman & Summerland from the Daily Mirror it will bring master Bates and his low life outfit down.

 

[mubin]

I love when these people call claiming they have a recording of me agreeing to the terms, I always ask them to play the recording and am told that I will get a call back.

They will never take you to court so what I suggest just ignore them, if they keep calling tell them you have passed the invoice on to your solicitor and a lawsuit is being prepared please stop calling as it will only harm their case.

 

[thwizzkid]

i hve a better idea we should rally up a load of ppl and go down and demand an explaination off bates himself. lets see if the calls keep comming then!

let us personally shut the company down, and make damn sure he cant set up another

 

[atimarketing]

Thank you, thank you, to everyone giving advice and whoever started this post, I have been so worried about these guys. I knew I had never agreed to any of their twaddle, I was so sure, but I thought what can I do, they have me on file saying I did?! I got their invoice and it just looked all wrong, so unprofessional, thats when I found these posts. Needless to say I wont be paying the invoice and I will be notifying my local Trading Standards Authority tomorrow.
Incidentally the info on the invoice was as follows.

IKONIC PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
Unit 109, 2 Hellidon Close
Manchester M12 4AH

tel 0161 235 5379
fax 0161 923 6946

Lets end this.
Regards, Ad

P.S. Thank you UK business forums!

 

[ipswich24]

If you check the "who is" record for the website operator you get : contact: Andrew Bates
organisation: Ikonic Publications Limited
address: 8 Ashfield Drive
address: Newton Heath
address: Manchester
address: M40 1WJ
address: GB
phone: +44.7968299791
fax: +44.1619296846
email: [email protected]

 

[Spikey Angel]

Well...
That'll teach me to be all helpful and trusting.
I paid £149 last year to Ikonic Publications for some books that were obviously never sent out.
I am a counsellor and work very hard for my money as we all do.
My own fault I guess, but they have just been on the phone again trying to enlist me for another set of books so beware... They are still at it!

Jan

 

[ipswich24]

we all get caught once.. make sure it is just ONCE!

We're publishers and never mind and in fact prefer it if people use purchase order numbers this obviously lets the accounts department know that it is a legit invoice before paying it!

 

[vindyvendy]

Thank goodness for the person who first posted their story of these people. I first heard from these people back in April last year when a girl rang telling me that the books we had ordered were ready to go to print, unfortunately I presumed that my mum(family business) had probably already ordered them as we have done this sort of thing before and told them ok. They rang back v shortly afterwards to confirm details, however a few weeks later I started getting the phone calls for the payment. I told them we had not received an invoice and without one the bill would not be paid. When this went on for a month or so and we had still not had a bill I obviously got v suspicious about how genuine this company was. We did then receive an invoice which my mum sent back with a note on saying that we had not signed any agreement and had had no confirmation in writing for this order. They then told me that they had a copy of a "legally binding" conversation between myself and them which they would send me along with the book that I had requested months before. A recording has arrived but it is not of the first conversation where the girl tells me that the books are ready to go to print and which school would I like them to go to, it is of the 2nd call when they confirm my details. Would somebody tell me if this is a legally binding agreement please. They have called me again today to ask when payment will be made and finally I got round to googling them and you lot is what I have found!!! This is the first of these scams that I have been stupid enough to get mixed up in, however it will be the last and when they ring again I will obviously be telling them where to go thanks to all that I have read on this forum. Thank you

 

[lou lou]

A couple of days ago, I got a call from Ikonic Publications telling me that I had spoken to them last year about child abuse books and would I like a school within my area to benefit from the books. I was in the middle of teaching so I said "yes" and they then called me back to confirm my details and asked if I wanted the school to know that it was me that recommended them, which I thought was "ok". They took my email address so that I could receive confirmation of this I will probably be hounded this way too now!). I received the sample book this morning along with an invoice requesting £199 payable within 7 days. I rang them immediately telling them to cancel everything and that I would be returning all the books to them immediately and to take me off their database. I also asked for recordings of the original conversations because I said I was never aware that I was buying anything for anyone. It's a long story which basicaly mirrors the experiences of other on this forum. I then went on the internet and found all of you! I am going to report it to the trading standards and wait for the barrage of abuse from Ikonic. I hope this has taught me a big lesson just as I am starting out in business.

 

[lou lou]

Just a quick question and it may be stupid but have any of the schools ever actually received the books?

 

[Joseph H]

BEWARE!! IKONIC PUBLICATIONS TRY TO SCAM BUSINESSES

Someone called me today asking me to pay £120 for an advert that I was told appeared on the back of a booklet.

The woman who called me (she said her name was Laura stephens) was calling from a business called Ikonic Publications, based in a business unit in Manchester.

The conversation went as follows:

Laura: " Hi, well your ad is now complete and the child protection mag went out to 7 schools. We put your company details on the back of each booklet. The outstanding payment comes to £120 - who will you be making payment?"

Me: "Who are you, and why are you calling me?"

**Eventually, after a lot of irrelavent waffle about child protection**

Laura: "I called in June and arranged with Leo to put your details on our booklet"

Me: "Firstly - I am the only person who works here, as I am a sole trader who is self employed" Second, there is no-one he or related to me or my business called Leo - Leo is just the name of my business"

I am being calm and talking softly and slowly, but Laura hangs up.

I dial 1471 but number is withheld.

I find the Ikonic Publications website, but no phone number there only and address and email.

I call 118500 and get a number for that address - the guy who answers denies any knowledge of the business.

I am reluctant to email them because I don't want to give them further info about me or my business.

These people are clearly FRAUDSTERS - if I was a bigger company, the chances are that someone in the office (Idont have an office or emplyees) would have just paid this - this is what these people rely on.

Does anyone know how I could prosecute these criminals and even sue them for me time.

Has anyone had experience of these low lifes?

Get intouch

Thanks for reading, I feel a bit better now.

This has happened to me two months ago, same women called from ikonic publications needless to say i put her straight after she threatened me with legal action after i said im not paying you anything and iv reported them to trading standards

 

[AR Design]

Ive just discovered this forum so feel compelled to reply. Its really helped me realise Im not alone in this outrageous scam!

Ive just come off the phone from 'Trading standards' who were aware of this scam and have advised me to write back telling them to sod off (politely).

I had a brief conversation with Ikonic Publications before christmas asking me to 'nominate' a school for their publications to go out to, etc etc.
Im aware they may have my conversation recorded confirming my details but NEVER did they state this was a legally binding contract or state the Terms & conditions (which is illegal!).
I then received a sample copy of an extremely poorly put together booklet and an invoice for £149 asking me to pay within 7 days!
I've written back telling them I do not want this and will not be paying the invoice but have since been hassled EVERYDAY at least once. I've had two more 'payment overdue' letters requesting payment and now one last week saying they will take me to court if I do not pay. Signed 'credit control' - yeah right!

These people are outrageous and I would be stressing myself out big time had I not discovered this site, so thank you!

 

[tc-prop]

Just a quick question and it may be stupid but have any of the schools ever actually received the books?

Some do receive the books but they are totally useless. They quite often und up in recycling bins!
There is so much about this on the net, Tony Levene From the Guardian paper has a recent letter from a teacher about the books that were sent out from this - worth viewing, also penman and summerland's latest investigation.

 

[pissed off]

been tryin to get 149 out of me for 20 books they Phone from this number 01612059957

BEWARE!! IKONIC PUBLICATIONS TRY TO SCAM BUSINESSES

Someone called me today asking me to pay £120 for an advert that I was told appeared on the back of a booklet.

The woman who called me (she said her name was Laura stephens) was calling from a business called Ikonic Publications, based in a business unit in Manchester.

The conversation went as follows:

Laura: " Hi, well your ad is now complete and the child protection mag went out to 7 schools. We put your company details on the back of each booklet. The outstanding payment comes to £120 - who will you be making payment?"

Me: "Who are you, and why are you calling me?"

**Eventually, after a lot of irrelavent waffle about child protection**

Laura: "I called in June and arranged with Leo to put your details on our booklet"

Me: "Firstly - I am the only person who works here, as I am a sole trader who is self employed" Second, there is no-one he or related to me or my business called Leo - Leo is just the name of my business"

I am being calm and talking softly and slowly, but Laura hangs up.

I dial 1471 but number is withheld.

I find the Ikonic Publications website, but no phone number there only and address and email.

I call 118500 and get a number for that address - the guy who answers denies any knowledge of the business.

I am reluctant to email them because I don't want to give them further info about me or my business.

These people are clearly FRAUDSTERS - if I was a bigger company, the chances are that someone in the office (Idont have an office or emplyees) would have just paid this - this is what these people rely on.

Does anyone know how I could prosecute these criminals and even sue them for me time.

Has anyone had experience of these low lifes?

Get intouch

Thanks for reading, I feel a bit better now.

 

[anygasman]

They rang me today,
same old same old.
We spoke to you some time ago and your books are ready to go out to schools and we would like to know which local schools you would like to send them to.
Want company are you " Ikonic Publications"
OK and wants your phone number she then hung up.

I have had a number of calls like this over the years and there all the same once you start to question them they hang up.

Last month I even had one saying that he was from the Police and was publishing a book on abuse and again when I started to question him he hung up. I phoned my sister who works in the police and she said that they would not have someone phoning and would certainly not cut you off with out saying thank you for your time anyway.

I try and get in before they cut me of "could I suggest a booklet going to small businesses about phone scammers wanting money for useless books"

 

[Delta-SI]

Aww this really isn't fair. Why haven't these idiots tried it on with me yet?

 

[helenthemum]

I think you will find they operate from PO BOX 4234 Manchester M1 6WY.

We got caught a year or so ago by someone saying they were from Crime Prevention.

They use several different names t try and get people several times.

I reported them to trading standards and the police neither could do anything.

Now when someone phones up saying they are from any advertising company to do with police, fire, ambulance, school or other service we ask for their phone number and will ring them back, which they then put the phone down on us.

Helenthemum

 

[GaryMc]

Is this not a perfect case for Watchdog or Rogue Traders?

 

[CompleteTrainer]

Adscams warn us to be wary of 'rouge' scammers. I didn't realise they came in different colours!

 

[CompleteTrainer]

Better resource:

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/extra/news-item.cfm/newsid/147

It's Scamnesty Month aparrently!

CT

 

[pissed off]

director of the company ikonic publications 07968299791

 

[batey]

Hello, I'm posting this disclaimer in order to stop any confusion with the party described in the Ikonic Publications scam! My name is Ian Bate (without an 's') and I am a Broadcast Graphic Designer (I have worked successfully and honestly in the business for 27 years) and I too live in Manchester. That is where the similarity ends as I have never been involved in any such activity, nor would I wish to be. So if you come across me in your search for design work, check the 's'.
Regards
Ian Bate

 

[quikshop]

Hello, I'm posting this disclaimer in order to stop any confusion with the party described in the Ikonic Publications scam! My name is Ian Bate (without an 's') and I am a Broadcast Graphic Designer (I have worked successfully and honestly in the business for 27 years) and I too live in Manchester. That is where the similarity ends as I have never been involved in any such activity, nor would I wish to be. So if you come across me in your search for design work, check the 's'.
Regards
Ian Bate

Time for a trip down to your local deed poll station

I don't think anyone here would have made a connection between the scam-muppits and you... now if you'd been into publishing then it could have been a bit tricky

 

[lm4893]

All sounds very familiar!! We've just been through exactly the same procedure with Ikonic Publications. It has been going on since September. After I wrote back to them and told them that the conversation recording they sent me contained no confirmation of any agreement and was in no way legally binding and I didn't want to hear from them again, I have had no further correspondence. However they are still phoning. I contacted Trading Standards who gave me advice but little else. Tonight I contacted BBC Watchdog and gave them an outline of the problem. I suggest everyone else does so too. (Very easy through their website.) If they get enough contacts they might investigate.

 

[kiddo]

I have heard these companies can record your telephone conversations without your knowledge and then manipulate them into pretending you agreed to an advert...is this true?

I had three calls from a 'Tim Jones' based in merseyside for advertising in an emergency services publication today stating i had placed the order 4 months ago and that the invoice is now due.

First one, i had said we had paid all our advertising invoices up to date and he put the phone down.

A couple of hours again he rang and said the invoice was still due (in the meantime I had been on the net and found about these scams)...
I asked for a recording of the non-existant agreement I supposedly made 4 months ago and they said it woud cost me £95 to listen to it. I then said it was a scam and hung up.

He rang me immediately saying I was making a 'serious allegation' and would i make it in writing I said i would and i am making a serious allegation and wanted his details, he initially tried to give me a mobile number I said i wanted a landline, he gave me a number which turned out bogus (hardly surprising) I ended up putting him on to my boss who told him we don't owe a thing.... he never ended up giving me an address

After ringing the local police to complain (they told me not to pay anything) what else can i do? Help... I want this guys head on a very sharp stick!!!

 

[helenthemum]

If in any doubt about the company who is phoning you tell the caller you are in the middle of something urgent and ask for their details so that you can call them back.

Don't ever ask them to phone you back.

If they are real they will give you their contact details which you can check on the web, if they are scammers they will 9/10 times put the phone down on you.

Same applies to the Sky box insurance scam.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I think the key is not to get too het up about a-holes like this. They don't care about your stress levels so you shouldn't tear your hair out worrying about them. I certainly wouldn't put any effort into writing to them to get them to stop (but certainly report them to trading standards).

The way I tend to deal with these sort of people is to try and waste their time more than my own. So, if this lot called, I'd say:

"Ok, no problem, hang on and I'll just get the company credit card details".

Then I'd press the 'secrecy' button on my phone which puts them on hold and plays really irritating plinky-plonk electronic music.

Then I'd nip out to the local shop for a pint of milk, or go and post some letters or have lunch or.. well you get the idea


It's no use arguing with them or questioning them, much better to hook them and play them on the line for as long as possible


Cheers,
Slarti.

 

[tc-prop]

I had another phone call from this group of tw*ts yesterday, last time they phoned me was back in november last year. They even changed thier name slightly to try and catch me out! It was somthing like education awareness publications, they said they spoke to me last year do i remember?, yep they did phone me last year and yes i do remember.
Then i told them that your that well known company that cons people, your all over the net - The line went dead! Ha Ha who's had the last laugh now?
Just goes to show what a bunch of chancers this lot is.

 

[tc-prop]

Just to let every one know that Bates's outfit ikonic t/a esp has been shut down by the high court, hoorraaayy!!!!!

So we now have some well deserved toss*rs queing up at the job centre. HA HA HA.

 

[*Lexxy*]

ikonic may well be no more, but there are still others out there playing this game.

had a call from a guy this afternoon, i didn't recognise the 0151 no. & i didn't actually answer with our company name, he wanted to speak to the General Manager to thank them. I said i was a company director & could i help.

yes, thank you for taking out the advertising in the Police publication (or something like that). i said we hadn't, he was very adamant that we had & it must be my mistake.

i told him we hadn't taken any advertising & it would have been me that would have arranged it anyway, he carried on along the same lines - so i just said i know what your're trying to do & i'm not interested, & i ended the call.

he rang straight back & said we must have got cut off! nope, i put the phone down on you . he then changed tack & said this is the Travel Inn isn't it? erm, no. he was telling me to 'have a little respect' when i put the phone down on him the second time...

i felt a bit guilty for a sec as i thought - did i get that all wrong & it was just a wrong no.? but i never answered with any company name in the 1st place & he never checked. when i tried to call the no. back (0151 227 9827) it wouldn't dial, so i think my suspicion was correct anyway

 

[Smudge]

The best way to aviod scams like this, is to source your own advertising. Having been had myself by a company called Cavendish Black years ago I don't talk to people who cold call me on the phone.

9 times out of 10 these companies are selling the hard luck story, trying to get your charity.

 

[GedB]

Child protection is a common one, I have had these sort of calls before and variations such as " thank you for your company's sponsorship last year we have put your ad in again where shall I send the invoice" - huh!

Amazingly they are sometimes representing real publications but just trying to scam an ad out of you!

I have had callers claiming to be producing school booklets about rail safety, and a guide to railway stations with disabled toilets. If you hadn't guessed I am in the railway business hence the topics.

Another trick, practised on large companies is when they look up who's who from the company website then phone up and say "I was just speaking to Fred Bloggs your Managing Director, he is keen to put an ad in our publication and he gave me your number to call to arrange it". Who would disturb the MD to check for £100 ad? Anyway the best way to bring these scams to an abrupt end is to ask the caller to give you the order number, this usually does the trick.

 

[CVRO]

Ok, it's not politically correct towards the end but search for: "Tom Mabe funny phone call" on You Tube for an alternative way of dealing with cold callers... (p.s.: I cannot post a link yet)

 

[websnail]

I've found that talking to people like this is a waste of time... Once I've realised it's a scammer I ask for their phone number, Directors full details and local trading standards office... Amazingly I soon find I'm talking to a dead phone.

If I recognise the voice I just hang up and keep hanging up...

Obviously these people just need to be shot and dumped at sea... but for some reason the British Courts frown on this sort of behaviour... Go figure...

 

[thwizzkid]

i can let you all know that this company has been closed down; and not before time

 

[gogul2k]

You might also want to make use of blagger.com