Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning businesses to be on the lookout for invoices from a company called AYPR Inc. which claims to be based in Duluth, Minnesota.

Those who have complained state that the company is billing for services they did not order or authorize. The company has an F rating due to questionable business practices and a pattern of complaints.

AYPR Inc. claims to publish business directories and attempts to charge companies for being listed or featured in those directories. However, in many schemes of this nature, businesses are tricked into paying for services for which they weren’t interested or were not aware they would be charged. Often times the invoice provides the name of an actual employee (either present or former) who “authorized” the charges. In many cases, the employee is not in a position to authorize purchases.

In addition to the Duluth address, which is actually a mail shipping and services store according the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota, AYPR claims to have addresses in: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah & Wisconsin.

Here’s how directory schemes often work. An employee is contacted usually by fax and asked to fill out a few vague questions to confirm basic company information. What the employee doesn’t realize is that by simply providing this information, they open the door to future billings. The faxes contain fine print stating that by signing and returning the form, the business is agreeing to be charged and listed in the directory, which may or may not even exist. The business is often invoiced for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

These scammers sometimes pretend to be verifying or renewing a company’s “existing” directory listing. They send urgent invoices, create confusion and count on an organization paying to avoid being hounded. When companies refuse to pay, the scammers use high-pressure tactics such as bullying, threatening collection or legal action.

BBB and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have the following tips to avoid being the victim of a scam:

• Designate only certain employees to make company purchases.
• Train your staff to direct calls to only employees authorized to order supplies and services.
• Check all documentation before you pay bills. Make sure you intentionally purchased the items for which you have been billed.
• Know your rights. If you receive supplies or invoices for services you didn’t order, don’t pay. It’s illegal for a seller to invoice you, send threatening notices for merchandise you didn’t order or ask you to return the merchandise.
• Report fraud. Report this type of scam to the BBB, the FTC, the Postal Inspection Service and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning businesses and consumers of fraudulent solicitations from scam artists posing as real law firms online. The FBI says it has received numerous reports from legitimate attorneys who say their firms’ identities have been stolen online.

The FBI is asking that anyone who becomes aware of one of these fraudulent websites report them promptly to their state Bar Association, and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov.

If you receive a suspicious solicitation from an attorney, BBB recommends consumers and businesses check their status with BBB by visiting, www.tucson.bbb.org/Find-Business-Reviews, and with the State Bar of Arizona by visiting www.azbar.org/findalawyer. Any attorney practicing in Arizona must register with the State Bar.

It’s also recommended that businesses and consumers use the contact information provided to them- by BBB or the State Bar- to contact the attorney to make sure they’re the same firm that initially solicited them.

For more business and consumers news and alerts, visit www.tucson.bbb.org.

UPDATE: BBB was contacted by a Tucson attorney who said that in addition to being registered with the State Bar, any Attorney soliciting business in Arizona must include the following disclosure in their solicitation:

“NOTICE: This email and its attachments may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state, federal and tribal law. This email is specifically covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §2510-2521. This email may contain attorney-client privileged information or work product information and is intended only for the use of the individuals named herein. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with the law and you may be subject to penalties under the law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this email and its attachments. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply email and then delete the original email. Thank you.“

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning businesses of misleading invoices being mailed to companies all over the country- including Southern Arizona- by an Ontario, California-based company, US Telecom (UST).

The invoices are actually solicitations for USTs services, but appear to be standard invoices, billing companies $425 for services rendered. Nowhere on the solicitation does UST disclose that the invoice is actually a solicitation.

It is against U.S. Postal Service regulations to mail a bill or invoice that is actually a solicitation, unless it bears a clear disclaimer that such unsolicited invoice is for information only and not a request to pay.

The U.S. Postal Service requires solicitations that look like invoices, bills, or account statements to carry one of the following notices:

1. “THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.”

2. “THIS IS A SOLICITATION FOR AN ORDER OF GOODS OR SERVICES, OR BOTH, AND NOT A BILL, INVOICE OR STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT DUE. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO MAKE ANY PAYMENTS ON ACCOUNT OF THIS OFFER UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.”

UST has accrued 461 consumer complaints with the Los Angeles BBB in the past year, including 182 unanswered complaints. In September, 2011 the Los Angeles BBB conducted an Advertising Review on USTs solicitations and requested that the company include a Disclosure Statement to let businesses know that the mailer is a solicitation.

BBB also requested U.S. Telecom alter the composition and layout of the solicitation so that businesses wouldn’t confuse it with an invoice. U.S. Telecom did not respond to either of BBB’s requests.

In February the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office filed a Cease and Desist order against U.S. Telecom, and its principal, David Bell, for “engaging in unlawful acts or practices” by mailing businesses solicitations that could “reasonably be interpreted” as a bill or invoice.

BBB encourages businesses in southern Arizona that receive or mistakenly pay this invoice to file a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s office at http://www.azag.gov/AllComplaints.

BBB tips for avoiding invoice scams:

• The best protection against phony invoices is knowledge and vigilance- never pay a bill unless you’re sure you have a service agreement or contract with that company.
• Businesses should alert its accounts payable department to be on the lookout for disguised solicitations
• Carefully review invoices from companies you do not normally do business with
• Establish effective internal controls for the payment of invoices, and verify all invoices with the person who gave authorization

For more information on scams affecting businesses or to sign up for our free business newsletter visit www.tucson.bbb.org.