TD Targeted By Internet Scammers

An Irish TD has revealed how he spotted an internet scam and has warned small businesses to keep on the look out.

Labour TD Ciaran Lynch said today that his office had been preyed upon by a multi-million Euro international internet scam, and explained how he had foiled the trap.

In a statement published today on the Labour Party website, TD Lynch said: "The company based in Germany is writing to Irish companies with a form which looks like it is providing a free listing to an internet directory. I got one of these forms myself and having come across this scam before, it was immediately clear to me what was going on.

"The fact that they had categorised my web site www.ciaranlynch.ie as that of a restaurant, was evidence that they whatever this company was, it was not a serious professionally run business. Their misspelling of 'December' as 'Dezember' and 'search tips' as 'search tipps' raised alarm bells to say the least."

Mr Lynch went on to explain that buried in the small print of the form is a commitment to buy an ad on their website, valued at €958, each year for the next three years. The company also reserved the right to raise the price of the ad in subsequent years, and give the advertiser no say in how the ad would look.

The Labour TD continued: "Companies are being lured into signing and faxing back this form, which could land them with a liability of thousands of euro.

"At a time when many employers are being put to the pin of their collar to pay for even the bare essentials, the last thing they need is an unscrupulous operator like this preying on them and putting their very existence in jeopardy.

"I will be raising this at EU level and with my colleague Alan Kelly MEP, to see what action we can take, to put these scam artists out of business."

(DW/BMcC)