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markymark
27-01-2003, 15:07/03:07PM
A client just emailed me this from a bunch of jokers called directorylistings.biz.

_______________________________________________

Dear Sir/Madam


An Important Message from Directory Listings

Your Yahoo! DIRECTORY Listing:

You should have your site reviewed by one of our editorial staff as soon as possible. This annual review is essential in order to ensure your site remains in line with Yahoo! terms and conditions of acceptance.

Sites which do not comply with terms of service are subject to removal from the Directory Listings database.


A Site Review is far more than a cursorary glance at your website. Your business benefits from:

1: Assurance your site remains in line with existing Yahoo! terms and conditions of inclusion and access to online forms to make changes if it doesn't.

2: All links and content within your site are extensively tested (incl forms, spelling and images) to ensure they function correctly and load within industry recognised maximum timeframes. 48% of all UK sites have links which dont function correctly. 39% of all UK sites have misspellings. 41% of all UK sites have non-loading images and a whopping 71% of sites have content which either loads at an unacceptable rate or loads with errors.

3: Application for Recategorisation of your site in Yahoo! (if deemed necessary) to ensure you're receiving the very best results possible. In many cases this recategorisation can substantially increase your results.

4: When you order an annual site review your site is also listed in the Google Web Directory, The National and International Google Search Engine, The British Business Site Directory and The Open Directory Project.

Your Yahoo! listing has benefited your company (Over 80% of ALL visitors from web directories come from Yahoo! Source: Forrester Research Oct 2002). In addition, Your Yahoo! directory inclusion automatically ensures your company listing on over 200 other Search Engines and Directories both nationally and globally. Yahoo! is officially Britain and the World's MOST VISITED website.

A Yahoo! listing drives qualified visitors to your site and should be safeguarded. If your site is removed from Yahoo! it can take several months and a new application to have it relisted. It is far easier to remain listed than to get a new listing.

The review is ONLY carried out with your permission and payment of the annual review fee. Payment for the site review must be received prior to review. Your site review is carried out by Directory Listings independent agents, Intermedia.

You can choose site review periods from 1 to a maximum of 3 years. ALL listings are manually reviewed.

If your site does not comply with Yahoo! terms of inclusion you will be advised as to the changes you need to make. If you need to make changes to a listing a link to the changes form will be sent with your confirmation. There is no additional charge for changes or the subsequent review to confirm these changes.

There is no charge for non-profit or charitable organisations. Any misrepresentation of a non-profit or charitable status will result in immediate removal of site details from our directory database.

To view your existing Yahoo! listing: Visit www.yahoo.com and search for your web address or company name.

Yahoo!, The world's most visited website, reaches over 230 million unique users per month -- potential customers for your business. More people receive search results through Yahoo! than through EVERY other directory COMBINED. Yahoo! Search Results are also displayed on over 200 other directories and search engines.


How to order your site review:

Reply to this message (include your name, your web address and your fax number). We'll fax you through a site review order form. Complete the form, choose a site review period (1-3 years), sign it, fill in your payment details and fax it back to 0207 681 1800.

OR:

You can request a fax order form by calling 0800 587 0457. Make sure you include your web address, your name and your fax number.

Site Review Cost:

1 year: £199
2 years: £299
3 Years: £365.

You will normally receive confirmation of your order and a receipt from our accounts department within 24 hours.

Your site review is carried out within 7 days from date of order (excl Saturday and Sundays).

Sincerely


John Cameron
Directory Listings.

__________________________________________________

Anyone else come across this shoddy little trick ?

robwatts
27-01-2003, 16:13/04:13PM
No not yet, but I am continually amazed at how far people will go to try and squeeze a £ note out of people.

Advisor
27-01-2003, 16:40/04:40PM
Yes, I have had a couple of newsletter subscribers from the UK forward me that email. These were web savvy people, and both of them thought it was an official email from Yahoo UK!

I had to look at it very closely myself to determine that it was a trick from another company trying to make you think they were Yahoo and that you'd be removed if you didn't pay them.

They should be promptly put in jail. I think I will mention this in this week's newsletter if I can remember. I hate the thought anyone being fooled by this.

Jill

markymark
27-01-2003, 17:54/05:54PM
Well, I've passed this on to Yahoo. I'm sure they won't be too impressed either. They are also quite litigious.

ihelpyou
27-01-2003, 18:03/06:03PM
Wowsie, there are scammers, spammers and outright liers, but these are very much criminals in every sense. Jail is too damn good for them. Rope em up, I say!

Advisor
27-01-2003, 20:08/08:08PM
Don't hold your breath, Mark. I had my two guys send them to Yahoo also, and they just got canned responses saying that their Yahoo email account would be closed!

Jill

MakeMeTop
27-01-2003, 23:25/11:25PM
I emailed one of the senior surfers at Yahoo UK about this over a week ago. He said that they were aware of it and would be taking 'appropriate action'!

Kal
27-01-2003, 23:56/11:56PM
Ack! :( That's a nasty one. I'll mention that in my blog to help spread the word. Thanks for posting it MM!

MakeMeTop
28-01-2003, 00:55/12:55AM
Andy (Nicebloke) from MMT actually called them up and got them to admit that this 'review' was not necessary to remain in Yahoo. They are also (it appears) a company operating out of New Zealand - targetting users in the UK and Australia.

This is as clear an attempt at 'passing-off' (pretending to be another company or brand) as I've seen in a while! I hope they get shut down quickly. In the meantime, we have to go and spend time with all the clients they contact convincing them that this is not a case of having to pay another fee to Yahoo!

It does stink!

glengara
28-01-2003, 04:29/04:29AM
They must have been inspired by the crowd that was looking for me to renew my listing in an DMOZ clone!

Kal
28-01-2003, 21:59/09:59PM
Originally posted by MakeMeTop
They are also (it appears) a company operating out of New Zealand - targetting users in the UK and Australia.
According to a WhoIS lookup, the domain is registered to a U.K. company. What made Andy think it was an NZ company? Any names? I can look them up here on the Company Names database...

MakeMeTop
29-01-2003, 03:23/03:23AM
It was something to do with the conversation he had with them, I think. Unfortunately Andy is stuck in Scotland (after a long weekend in England) due to severe gales in the Irish Sea stopping the ferries (he is driving) - he was meant to be back yesterday but may get across today. I'll ask him when he eventually turns up.

Alan Perkins
11-02-2003, 06:26/06:26AM
E-mail received from Yahoo todayDear Yahoo! Express Client

Yahoo! UK & Ireland has learned that some of its Yahoo! Express customers recently received a fraudulent e-mail that requests a £199 renewal fee to remain in the Yahoo! Directory. This email is not from Yahoo!. As always, Yahoo! Express in the UK charges a once only, non-refundable processing fee per submission. This has not changed.

If you have received such an email, please do not respond to it. Instead, please forward it to us at uk-legal@uk.yahoo-inc.com. Yahoo! UK & Ireland already has reported this attempted fraud to law enforcement agencies and will continue to co-operate closely with them to ensure our users' interests are protected to the fullest extent possible. In addition, if you already have responded to this email, or have supplied your credit card number to someone at one of the phone numbers that the email supplied, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

Yahoo! UK & Ireland would like to assure all of our customers that the security and integrity of the Yahoo! system has in no way been compromised and that Yahoo! continues to maintain the highest levels of data security

Regards

The Yahoo! Team

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail and any attachment is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the named recipient only.Despite the confidentiality notice, I'm pretty confident Yahoo would be happy for this to be made public. :)

Advisor
11-02-2003, 09:07/09:07AM
It's about time they recognized it. I hope my newsletter article about it helped speed things along!

Jill

MsSearch
11-02-2003, 11:50/11:50AM
Good job Jill!

Yahoo Scam Article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29281.html)

markymark
28-02-2003, 07:13/07:13AM
Hasn't stopped them though, unfortunately. Got this fowarded to me this morning:

From: Directory Listings
To: listings@directorylistings.biz
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 10:39 AM
Dear Sir/Madam


An Important Message from Directory Listings

Your Yahoo! DIRECTORY Listing:

You should have your site reviewed by one of our editorial staff as soon as possible. This annual review ensures your site remains in line with Yahoo! terms and conditions of acceptance.

Sites which do not comply with Yahoo! terms of service are subject to removal from the Directory Listings database.

We have previously emailed you regarding this. You will not receive further correspondence with relation to this matter.

And Equally Important: You will have recently received emails from Yahoo! Express and Directory Listings warning you about companies who are attempting to deceive customers into paying for an annual Yahoo! renewal.

We were obviously NOT referring to ourselves. We make this point because of the number of people who assumed that annual reviews performed by Directory Listings were the subject of these warnings.

They were not!

Your annual review is an indispensable tool designed to benefit your business and should be carried out as soon as possible. It is important to safeguard your Yahoo! and other directory listings and your immediate attention is advised.
___________________________________________________

It carries on after this pretty much in the same vein as the previous one. I've fowarded it to Yahoo's legal department. Can't believe they've got the brass balls to try to pass themselves off as Yahoo.

Alan Perkins
28-02-2003, 07:33/07:33AM
Wow. That does take some neck.

Advisor
28-02-2003, 10:11/10:11AM
Isn't that incredible? Someone forwarded me the same thing. It boggles the mind that this company is even still in operation, let alone pulling off the same scam!

Jill