Uninvited courier
Gazeta Wyborcza described a “ courier trick”, that is a certain person calls a small company and “reminds” about “appointed” visit of a courier. A deliverer brings an invoice and a statute of an advertisement service and positioning in Google. Their signing will mean a permission for using a pretty costly “service”.
To “courier trick” are especially exposed those companies, which actually decided on a promotion service in the Internet, that is, for instance, on preparing and positioning a business card in a special service, enabling to find a company in the Internet. The business card in itself is not nothing wrong but a problem may come later when a consultant from another company, which is competitive to the one, the service of which we decided to use, calls. The interlocutor offers us a possibility of paying a due money for the business card through a courier. Additional difficulty in orientating that we fell victim to a swindler are similarly sounding names of websites offering identical services.
“Governmental” registers of companies
Official letter calling to register a newly-created company to an obligatory register? That must be a caper! Senders of letters are companies trying to compel money on their account. In addition to it, their names are frequently associated with actually functioning offices, for instance Rejestr Działalności Gospodarczych i Firm or Rejestr Polskich Podmiotów Gospodarczych.
The request for payment is usually edited in such way that they contain some regulations and names of real institutions, and consequently they do not impose the payment, for instance in the form of: “Non-payment will result in a permanent lack of an entrepreneur’s registration …”. The aim of the letter is to make an impression that the “lack of registration” will cause non-accomplishment of an important duty.
Illegality of software declaration
BSA, that is Business Software Alliance, is an organization uniting commercial producers of a closed software, functioning in 60 countries all over the world, including Poland. The aim is right – promotion and enforcement of a legitimate use of its members’ software – however a way to achieve it leaves a lot to be desired. According to Dziennik internautów, this organization sends a letter to companies with a call to send the “illegality of software declaration” back – of course with an accurate data of a company. BSA does not have a legal form in Poland, therefore no one has a duty (even should not) to comply with its regulations, the aim of which is primarily to cause fear among entrepreneurs, who really have illegal programmes. However, companies which do not have much in common with receiving stolen goods may be also manipulated.
Pobieraczek
Moreover, in the Internet function so called pobieraczek services which offer a seemingly free service, for instance registering to the Internet company catalogue. In reality, acceptation of compulsory statute in it means a consent to very disadvantageous (i.e. expensive) conditions. The di.com.pl service described some time ago two functioning in this way company catalogues – Elov.pl and its newer version – eElov.pl. Service running by PHU Domiś Paweł Zajączkowski company, like other websites basing on the oversight of Internet users, has a abominably written statute in the form of a text wall, not divided into paragraphs, which contains a crucial conceptualization in some place. They are quoted by Dziennik internautów: “Opening an account and adding a business card is equivalent to signing an agreement on providing a service through eElov.pl companies’ catalogue. The statute also warns against increasing costs for companies which will be avoiding payments.
How do companies fall victim such services? It is enough that an employee – no matter, if he is obliged to enter into agreements in the name of the company, or not – will sign it to the catalogue. It turns out that in such cases courts may take pobieraczek service sides, recognizing that an employer has to be responsible for a worker’s activities.
See also: Cyberattacks dangerous mainly for companies
Tricky pobieraczek services are also created by an entrepreneur Krzysztof Habiak. Dziennik internautów many times described services made by him, frequently promoted by spam, which are based on carelessness of the Internet users, for example kbiz.pl, De Lege Artis or Alerty24.pl. The last one, promoting itself as an “Exclusive Internet service for entrepreneurs” enables the access to published articles in it after a prior registration, demanding i.a. giving a NIP of the company. Monthly subscription for using an access may cost even several thousand zlotys!
Some of described phenomena occurred on the market at least couple of years ago, but if they disappear, it is only because they are supposed to revive themselves in even more sophisticated form to reap the harvest again among micro- and small companies. Remembering about it, each entrepreneur should think twice before he gives a consent to something – no matter if it happens through the Internet, telephone or courier. It will not do any harm if employees will be warned.