February 22. 2008 – Recently, the OYP Group, which markets itself as the "Other Yellow Pages" has targeted churches and small businesses in Omaha and South Dakota. Better Business Bureaus have processed over 500 complaints against the OYP Group, most alleging misleading sales presentations and high pressure collection efforts. Most complainants claim they were unaware that they were ordering products, or were under the impression they were advertising in their local Yellow Page directory.
"The OYP Group is using an elaborate scheme to deceive unsuspecting small businesses," said Jim David, BBB state director for South Dakota. "They use both time and intimidation to deceive small to medium sized organizations that are worried about their credit rating. Since the amount is relatively small, many pay the invoice in order to avoid threatened legal actions."
The OYP Group recently harassed a Sioux Falls area business and an Omaha area church for unpaid "bogus" invoices for directory listings in its publication. According to one business owner, OYP Group contacted him regarding the renewal of his yellow page ad from last year. However, he had not purchased an ad. Unfortunately, he provided a credit card payment to this company totaling $399. He requested a copy of the publication, but it never came.
In another scenario, if organizations do not pay the bogus invoice, they receive harassing phone calls and faxes approximately a month after the invoice was sent. These calls can be frightening since they will piece together recorded conversations that sound as if they agreed to purchase the ad when they updated their information during an original phone call from OYP Group.
The OYP Group is located in Canada with a New York State address as a mail drop. During introductory phone calls, the OYP Group salesperson claims that the majority of Omaha's population has its publication. In addition, representatives of The OYP Group are evasive in disclosing the actual physical location of their call center and state that it is company policy to handle all business transactions by phone or via intranet, and are not allowed to meet clients face to face. The majority of the complaints received by BBB involve harassing faxes and phone calls requesting payment for unsolicited listings. Although the BBB cannot guarantee that it will not happen, the BBB has never heard of a company's credit being damaged for failure to pay these bogus invoices to this company. Complaints regarding the OYP Group have been received from organizations across the United States.
TIPS
How to Protect Your Business
• The best protection is knowledge and vigilance. Your company's accounting department, or the individuals responsible for paying bills, should carefully review all invoices, particularly those from unfamiliar companies.
• Never place an order over the telephone, unless there is no doubt that the firm you are dealing with is reputable. Obtain the organization's name, address, and telephone number, as well as its representative's full name and position. Then check on the company's reliability with your local Better Business Bureau.
• Establish effective internal controls for the payment of invoices.
• Channel all bills through one department.
• Insist that employees fill out pre-numbered purchase orders for every order placed.
• Check all invoices against purchase orders and against goods or services received. Make certain that order numbers correspond with the invoices.
• Verify all invoices with the person who gave written or verbal authorization.
• Clear all invoices with the appropriate executives.
• If the invoicing company claims to have tape recordings of the order and verification calls, insist on hearing them.