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Urgent ICSM Credit Industry Wide Warning: beware the dodgy debt collectors who only want more of your money for doing nothing
The scenario seems to make sense. A client of yours went bust owing £10,000 a few months ago leaving you angry and massively out of pocket. You even had to cut costs and take out a loan to survive. Then a company contacts you to say they can get your money back as the directors of the defunct company were trading fraudulently.
Official Receiver’s list
It sounds plausible but there is a catch. To proceed with the recovery work there’s a fee based on the percentage of the amount your client owed you plus VAT and a basic admin fee. ICSM Credit members have had a number of these firms contact them offering to recoup your losses. As soon as you agree to their terms by email they consider it a legal contract and you are then sent an invoice. For the £10,000 debt there’s a 2% charge, a £75 admin fee and VAT on top. And so far they’ve not done any recovery work. If you pay up the requested amount at least you might feel the bulk of the £10,000 will soon be in your bank account. Wrong – you’ve been conned. The so-called debt collector pockets the money and does nothing.
“We have known cases where the Lazarus debt collector (as I call them) then asks for a release fee claiming to have secured the debt,” said Ian Carrotte of ICSM Credit. “One member sadly fell for it sent another couple of hundred pounds to them only for the Lazarus operation to send a fresh invoice for administration. Of course they have not even approached the debtor. They have taken their details from the Official Receiver’s lists to make it sound like they know the business. It’s a con.”
Ian Carrotte said the difficult trading conditions created by the pandemic and its effects on business had led to an upsurge in firms going bust or not paying their bills.
“The Lazarus debt collectors are back,” he said, “so be on your guard. To collect long standing debts there are set ways to go about it. At ICSM Credit we have secured hundreds of thousands of pounds this year for members by using our trusted professional and effective methods of a combination of diplomacy and legal methods. And the golden rule is never part with cash up front – no professional company would expect that.”
About ICSM Credit
ICSM Credit has more than four decades of experience as a credit intelligence group whose members gain inside information about firms in trouble allowing them to avoid bad debts and rogue traders. To join costs less than a tank of fuel - while at the moment there's a special free temporary membership offer during the Covid-19 crisis which gives access to free legal letters. ICSM also has an effective debt collecting service which has a global reach - ask for details from Paul.
For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.
To keep up to date subscribe to the FREE ICSM Credit Newsletter to hear all the latest insolvency news and to see who has gone out of business click on the orange panel on the top left of the home page of the website www.icsmcredit.com or send an email to Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com
For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk