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SOURCES OF ADVICE
There are several things you can do if you feel
you've been caught out. I would suggest that you
get hold of a free booklet from the National Group
on Homeworking called "A Practical Guide to Dealing
with Misleading Adverts and Bogus Homeworking
Schemes". E-mail for a copy on
homeworking@gn.apc.org or telephone 0113 245 4273.
If you were responding to an advertisement in a
newspaper or magazine, you should write to the
editor asking them to remove the advertisement from
future use. You should also report them to the
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). ASA also
covers direct mail so if you responded to a letter
you received you should also contact them. Their
web site at www.asa.org.uk gives you all
the information you need and also lists ever
adjudication made since 1997.
Write to the company asking for your money back,
threatening them with court action, if necessary.
(Standard wording available from NGH).
Report them to their local trading standards
department and the office of Fair Trading.
If the opportunity is being run by a
limited company registered in the UK, you can get
basic information on the company for free or full
trading details for a few pounds. Go to
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/WebCHeck/findinfopage/
for further information.
The
Office of Fair Trading has just launched
its own website with guidelines to warn you about the latest
scams
Trading Standards have their own website
at
http://www.tradingstandards.net/
which contains a wide range of current and
reference information which should be equally
invaluable if you are a consumer with a query or
complaint, or if you are a business looking for
advice on your legal obligations in this field,
including legislation, faq, consumer issues,
careers advice and much more.
Areas you might want to visit are the
Message-board which is a moderated discussion group
where individuals can post their own problems or
advice, and the newsletter which is sent out by
email on a regular basis with current issue
updates, site updates, details of current scams
etc.
Advice guide from
Citizens
Advice Bureau gives basic advice and
information on your rights. It gives you a broad
outline of where you stand and what you can do.
The DTI has set up a site where you can check out typical scams and
also register your suspicions/experiences (anonymously if you wish).
Full details at http://www.ripofftipoff.net
UK Business Opportunity Review is an excellent site where members submit in-depth reviews of business opportunities they've actually tried so you to longer need to rely on guesswork as to which businesses are worth a further look. New reviews are added to the site every week and members make contributions to the members forum daily so there are already hundreds of reviews to read. Not only do you find out which businesses to avoid you can also read about the ones that are generating a significant income for members. You even get e-mail alerts about the latest scams.
The site is more than just a collection of reviews. You also get free legal
advice from a UK solicitor, useful articles on starting out in business, the
chance to buy and sell second hand business opportunities, and if you're
interested in horse racing, tipsters results data - check out actual tips received
from members. When you join you also get £700 worth of bonuses including a
free domain name and web hosting, website creation software and a
huge selection of e-books. Submit a review yourself and you'll get a
free one month subscription. Visit
http://www.homeworkinguk.com/ukbor.htm for details.
http://www.mlmtower.com
has an extensive collection of links relating to
MLM opportunities, including a comprehensive list
of sites warning of MLM scams.
Internet ScamBuster's Top Scams
Top scams online and offline from
Scambusters.org, including
the Nigerian e-mail scam, now updated to include similar
requests from Taliban leaders and other war affected countries, phishing scams and work at home scams.
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