Telephone scam in UK

Operating as Online Business Pages.co.uk and National Business Pages.co.uk, they claimed they were from Google and tricked me into thinking that I had an account with them. They then took my card number to 'cancel'. At this point they took my money. They even sent me an invoice from National Business Pages and a cancellation notice from Online Business Pages. While they look genuine none of the documents are legal. After some investigation, it's clear that BHB Marketing Ltd run Online Business Pages.co.uk and National Business Pages.co.uk to operate the scam.

If they used deception to gain your card details then you have every entitlement to make a refund claim under your card.

They'll put up a fight but, under the circumstances you mention, you have every right and entitlement to a refund.

A trader who behaves this way won't maintain their merchant trading facility long if every person with a similar complaint acts the same way.

The invoice they sent you ? - does it contain information as regards cancellation procedures and the cooling off period ? If they haven't included that information, then you can quite easily undo the transaction through your card company after you've formally notified the trader of cancellation.

UK Distance Selling Regulations.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/glos/con1item.cgi?file=*adv0051-1111.txt

Shouldn't be a problem.

The moral to the tale is - never ever give your card details to a stranger who telephones you unexpectedly.

Myself ? - I wouldn't give my card details to anyone over the phone.

You may find you have to get a new card. If they charged you once unreasonably - they may do so again.

Thanks for your reply.
There is a cancellation notice on the back of the invoice. Of course you don't think you have entered into a contract as they have taken the payment fraudulently. It does not occur to you that this is an option. They then back it up with invoice (from National Business Pages) and cancellation (from Online Business Pages) for the following year.
National Business Pages invoice has a registered office address which is NOT BHB Marketing Ltd, so it's not obvious they are the same company. While the phone is answered if there is any question they don't want to answer they put you on hold forever. For example vat is charged on the invoice but there is no number. Any request for a vat number is ignored. (I have reported it to the vat office). The web domain of National Business Pages is registered as a private individual and as a non-trading account so has no address shown. Online Business Pages.co.uk is registered to a P Brown who is the MD of BHB Marketing and the address is the same as BHB Marketing but the company name is not on the registration. There is no paper trail that links all three together.
It is my understanding that the law has changed and that the company needs a signed contract before they can take the payment. I can't take them to court as National Business Pages is not a business as far as I can see (although they are taking card payments) and I'm sure BHB Marketing would deny they have anything to do with them. My bank is being less than helpful as although I notified them immediately within hours of the scam they refused to stop the payment! They are currently investigating.
Is there anything I can tell the bank which will help their investigation? At the moment they are behaving as though I made a mistake as doubtless they will have the same invoice I have!

The simplest way to deal with this situation is to deliver the problem to your card provider/bank. How firm you can be with them is going to depend on how beholding you are to them. Unless you put pressure on your bank they will find it easiest to leave the money in the hands of the merchant facility provider. If upsetting your bank could lead to them retaliating against your banking facility, you will have to be cautious and tactful.

Court action and chasing around trying to unravel who is who from multiple names and identities is a pointless game that won't get you anywhere.

If you need something to quote to your bank you may find this helpful (apologies that my last link didn't appear to work).

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/debt_w/debt_banking_e/stopping_debit_and_credit_card_payments.htm

Stopping a card payment

The law says you can withdraw your consent and stop a card payment at any time up to the end of business on the day before the payment is due.

You can withdraw consent by simply telling whoever issued your card (the bank, building society or credit card company) that you don’t want a payment to be made. You can tell the card issuer by phone, email or letter. It's a good idea to also tell whoever the payment is to, that you don't want them to take the payment.

If you read the full article it would appear that your bank were at fault initially and may well have acted contrary to FSA rules in not accepting your original cancellation instruction. Keep in mind that in such a case, if they can't recover the funds, that won't prevent you recouping the money from them.

If it appears that your bank are fobbing you off and don't appear to be dealing with the matter then it is in your interests to raise it as a formal written complaint, which will then enable you take put it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for their adjudication in due course. This procedure will cost you nothing and knowing you intend to do this will give your bank incentive to take you seriously.

As it says in the article, the mere possession of your card details is neither evidence of the existence of a contract, nor authority for the company to use them to obtain cash. If the invoice is not in the name of the company that has actually withdrawn the money from your account then the invoice isn't evidence of any contract either. Bear in mind also that it is highly irregular if your card details are being passed around between separate entities without your express permission.

The benefit of this approach is that the invoice could be your best evidence that there is no contract because you can't have a contract with a fictitious or non-existent entity. If it isn't accurate, informative and precise it helps you.

I am going disregard consumer legislation in the presumption that you are a business of some form.

That's terrible! Although I've read a lot about recent phone scams, I haven't known about this particular scheme and I'm afraid that this one's really tricky. I'm just glad I found our page. Thanks for the info!

By the way, do you have the phone number/s this company uses? You know, just like what they do at http://www.callercenter.com where they post the scam report along with the scammer's phone number. I think it's a lot more advantageous when we know who's phone call not to answer.

The reality is that there are a lot of entities actually using this tactic as a business model and I repeat the rule that you should never disclose your card details over the phone to anyone for any reason.

There's no reason to fear answering the phone. I have an answering machine and alternatively, as long as the caller is paying the bill, I'll gleefully speak to them for hours.

It's far from impossible to get your money back, but it's a headache and these people rely on many people giving up and swallowing the loss. The issue is how these people get their hands on a merchant acquirer facility in the first place but, if enough people follow the process of reclaiming the money from their card issuer, these people won't keep their facility for long.

There are also some well known entities who will entice you to sign up for a service and hook you in to continuing payments without making you fully aware. Beware of offers to receive a free service where you're asked to input your card details to receive it. If you don't realise what's going to happen you're being gullible.

I would only ever put my card details in to a website for companies with a reputation, and after I'd checked up on their reputation online.

I've posted both numbers on the Callcenter website with the warning.
I'll certainly take it up with the bank and then take if further if necessary.
Thanks everyone, for all your good advice and support.