Pitfalls in the details

Companies take out expensive subscriptions without knowing it

The small print on the forms refers to a paid subscription.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Tricky companies are luring a lot of money out of reputable companies. As in several cases in eastern Austria. The Chamber of Commerce is now warning against official-looking forms with the yellow title "Industry entry SEO 2024/2025".

WKO - an abbreviation that entrepreneurs should be wary of. Because what looks like the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber is actually a business index for Austria that advertises a free entry in a business directory. In the small print, however, there is a lot of money involved. The lure is a "free entry". However, only the first 12 weeks are free. After that, €300 per month is charged, payable in advance for a year!

Forms without a sender
Forms are currently being sent to the offices of companies, surgeries and pharmacies without any apparent sender. The yellow title "Industry entry SEO 2024/2025" immediately catches the eye. Recipients feel compelled to correct (apparently deliberate) errors and return the form.

Subscription for search engine optimization
The pitfalls are in the details: The small print refers to a subscription and the associated costs. Anyone who returns the corrected form will shortly afterwards receive an invoice for EUR 2851.20 from Nexus Reach GmbH for a concluded contract. Specifically, this is a subscription for search engine optimization at a price of €99 plus VAT with a term of 24 months.

Misleading mailings of this kind are currently on the increase. The Burgenland Chamber of Commerce urges caution. "You should always be skeptical of forms sent to you and unknown advertising offers. Never pay without prior clarification," advise experts from the Service Center.

Fraudsters on the phone
Companies are not immune to telephone scams either. A cunning caller convinced a secretary that a one-year free agreement between her office and a publishing house was about to expire. In order to save her boss money in the future, the employee wanted to resign immediately. She had no doubts about the other party's explanations.

As the matter was urgent, the secretary sent the previously submitted termination form, complete with company stamp and signature, to the sender just a few minutes later. This was immediately followed by a nasty surprise. When the employee took her time to read the small print, she was horrified to discover that she had placed a three-year order for an advertisement in an Internet city map. The cost: 1798 euros per year!