Have you been offered cheap phone calls and a free Plasma TV???
We are all victims of these scams.
We offer free help to victims and their Law Firms who represent them. The only allegiances we have are to the victims who we endeavour to help.
If you are a victim, it is very important to register your details with us: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it this will ensure we can lobby your case.
We are not a Law Firm, and cannot replace a Law Firm, however, we can help your case in other ways that your Law Firm cannot, as they are bound by regulations and cannot seek help in the Media, etc.
Strategy to fight these scams
Click Here to go to the strategy Page for advice
Telco Finance Scam Members invade Parliament !!!
On Tuesday 16th November, 2010 a delegation of our Members met in Parliament House Canberra to meet with Politicians.
Victims arrived from South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales for this meeting.
Liberal MP’s Bruce Billson, Craig Kelly and Professor Frank Zumbo were in attendance and we discussed the scam with them.
We discussed: Government assistance for Section 73 test cases, ACCC intervention in these cases, investigating and prosecuting the Directors of these rogue companies, failure of ASIC to act, pressuring Finance Companies to stop litigation, other legal options, and public awareness.
Bruce has intervened directly by telephoning these financiers to negotiate on our behalf.
Bruce Billson said he had a 5 minute speech booked that night and it was to be on the war in Afghanistan, however, he said there was a war going on in Australia, so he dedicated his speech to the Telco Scam instead. Thank you Bruce, Craig and Frank for your support.
CLICK HERE to watch the 4 Corners video clips
If you watched this story or have been affected by this scam, please send your feedback to 4 Corners “Have your Say” so we can keep media pressure on this scam.
Daily Telegraph story slams Macquarie:
Liberal MP Bruce Billson asks the Gillard Government to help with Legal Funding for our Section 73 Test case as it is in the Nation’s best interest:
The Telco Finance Scams Association is lobbying for special interest Government funding be used to help our Section 73 test cases through the Court system. We find it ludicrous that the Government enacts Laws to protect victims, and then the victims to pay for these Laws to be tested in the Federal Court. The cost of these trials, as well as the indemnity risks, all rest with the victim. We believe it is the responsibility of the Government or the ACCC to pay for the costs of test case trials, to ensure that any new Law that is enacted works, and is ready for victims to use when needed. This also ensures that the Laws, as enacted, are correct and if amendments are needed to ensure the Law works as intended, these costs are funded by the Government and not the victim.
Have you been offered cheap phone calls and a free Plasma TV? If so, the chances are you have been caught up in this scam. There may be as many as 40,000 small businesses caught up in this scam and many owe $30,000 - $50,000 (the range is $5000 to $380,000).
Don’t feel embarrassed, as there have been at least 3 Law Firms who are victims as well. If a Law Firm, who deals with contracts every day of the week can be caught, what hope do us “Mug Punters” have ???
Send us an email with your Company details and details of what happened and we will put you on our data base and keep you up to date by email.
If you have continued to pay, read your contract and be aware of the Termination Notice period. They usually have a clause that says you must give 3 or 6 months notice otherwise they rollover the contract for another 6 month period. One victim found out that they had continued to deduct funds for 5 years after his contract expired. He thought it was his car payments. They refuse to return the extra funds they deducted from his Bank Account.
Be aware that the Finance Company won’t let you keep the “Free” equipment, and they will also expect a payout which is probably higher than the brand new cost of the equipment. If you were told the equipment could be purchased for $1.10 inc GST at the end of the contract period, and you are nearing the end of your contract, this is the time to start negotiating with them.
This website has been setup by victims of this scam, to help other victims and unite in the fight against the Finance Companies who are trying to use the Courts to collect on these fraudulent debts. The people and organisations behind the fraud are not being investigated or prosecuted, and in most cases, resigned as Directors and re-opened new Companies.
We need your HELP to stop these scams !!!
These types of scams keep evolving over time, and when this scam has disappeared, another scam will take its place.
We need donations and Financial Members to help our Section 73 of the Trade Practises Act Test get case through the Federal Court.
All donations and membership fees are Tax deductable and a Tax invoice will be sent to you.
We need around $200,000 - $300,000 to get this test case through the Federal Court, so we are counting on lots of people contributing to help us with this test case.
This is a David and Goliath fight and we are up against Multi National Companies in the Federal Court which is very expensive.
The importance of Section 73 is that it Links all the parties together and they are all equally and severally responsible for any breaches of contract.
In this current scam, what the victim doesn’t know is that they are signing 2 stand alone contracts and when the Telco closes down, the contract with the Finance Company still stands.
This means they are paying full price for no service.
There have been other scams involving pizza ovens, Bill Paying equipment, archiving equipment, and the common thread is the signing of 2 contracts which allows the equipment supplier to close and leave you with a huge debt. This type of scam could potentially cover any part of your business life, so it is important that this Test case goes through so there is protection for everyone in years to come.
Donations and Membership can be made on the Association Membership page
The ACCC are prosecuting one of the earlier cases, however, all the Companies who have operated the same Business model and closed since are not being investigated.
The ACCC prosecutions will probably take another 12 months to finalise, so if you are pinning your hopes on them winning, their win will come too late for all of us.
These are the 28 Companies, Directors and Managers that are being prosecuted by the ACCC for alleged hidden contracts and misleading conduct.
Link Solutions P/L, Service LS P/L, Axis Telecoms P/L, Service AT P/L, Sonofon P/L, Service SO P/L, Telecom One P/L, Service TO P/L, George Tawaf (Director of Axis), Mark Nesbitt (Director of Axis), John Masia (GM Axis), Barry Kennedy (Mgr Axis), WorldtTel (Aust) P/L, WorldTel Corp (Vict) P/L, Skylink Communications P/L, Romeo Wehbe (Director WorldTel), Manoel Wehbe (Director WorldTel), Fakhr Fakhr (Director WorldTel), Joseph Ayoub (Mgr WorldTel), Australian Integrated Finance P/L (AIF), Enterprise Finance Solutions P/L (EFS), CIT Group (Aust) P/L, Queensland Communications Co P/L, Service QCC P/L, Clear Communications (EurAst) AB, Clear Telecoms (Aust) P/L, Anthony Hakim (Director National Telecoms Group & Clear Communications), & National Telecoms Group P/L.
Since then, other Companies have been using the same business model and most of the Telco's and Equipment suppliers have since closed down.
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
This is a link to the TIO's Newsletter regarding the Telco Finance Scams: http://www.tio.com.au/publications/TIO_talk_issues/39/39.1.html
Please click on the link at the bottom of the page to read the Ombudsman's Overview as well as Cases they have investigated.
Fair Trading Tribunal
In each State they are different they have different names and Solicitors are not welcome so you are fighting on equal terms. NSW = CTTT, Vict = VCAT, Qld = QCAT, etc.
It costs around $100 to lodge a Claim and this usually results in the Finance Company deciding to negotiate a fairer outcome with you. Victoria has the best Consumer Laws which does not exclude Business Contracts if a Consumer Good was supplied – eg Plasma TV or something that is used in a normal household, or could be bought from the likes of Harvey Norman. The fine print in a Consumer Contract must be minimum of 10pt font and must include a cooling off period, otherwise it is unenforceable.
The Fair Trading Tribunal is the best place to fight things like unfair Termination periods, or having to purchase the “Free” equipment at the end of the period. If you are interstate, particularly Victoria, and you were supplied “Domestic” goods, VCAT is your best option and it is important that you lodge the claim which means the Tribunal is held locally to you, not in Sydney where the case will be heard under NSW Law.
I have heard that there have been victories in the Fair Trading Tribunal for victims in both NSW and Victoria. There have been others who have chosen to settle their matter for a fraction of the amount the Finance Company originally wanted. If nothing else, lodging a claim is a great bargaining tool.
If you need help lodging your claim, or need more info, send me an email.
Did you know that Clear Telecoms and Strathfield Car Radio have done a reverse takeover?
Strathfield Car Radio are now contacting businesses offering security cameras as part of a deal with their Telephone service! They say it is like signing up for a capped Mobile plan – but you are signing 2 separate contracts. At first they told me the carrier was AAPT, then Optus, then they had many they could choose from, and now they say that the Telephone service and Finance/Rental is all done through Strathfield Car Radio.
Sound Familiar?
Google cracks the Strathfield share mystery – The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/google-cracks-strathfield-share-puzzle/story-0-1111118693233
The Secretary of Enterprise Finance Solutions (EFS) and Strathfield Car Radio, according to the story in the link below, Vazerick Hovanessian has 10 different spellings of his name and was born in 6 different places. There is also reference to Insider Trading, links to organised crime and enforcing the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 with the other companies he is associated with.
Read this link: http://www.equipmentfinancing.com.au/news/2008/12/17/whats-in-a-name-variety-maybe/
There is a test case before the Federal Court against Macquarie for a contract that was allegedly entered into with Fresh Telecoms
Click this link for further details: www.doylewilson.com.au
Federal Court Case:
Click here for the info
We are raising funds to run a Test Case in the Federal Court against Macquarie.
This may set a precedent that everyone can use to win their case in Court, or as leverage to negotiate a reasonable settlement without going to Court.
Why is there no precedent already ???
Because the Court case will cost around $150,000 and for a small debt, it has never been worth anyone losing their house for.
The Federal Court case is ploughing ahead very slowly, as Macquarie are doing everything in their powers to delay this case. It has been through several hearings and also mediation. The next step should be the actual Trial, so we are waiting to hear more news on this.
We have started a Fighting Fund – check the Association Membership Page for details and how you can help us.
There is another Federal Court case against Clear Telecoms, Quikfund, Queensland Communications, and others that is also using Section 73 of the Trade Practises Act and the Trial date has been set down for February 2011.
Please use the Contact Us page to email us and we will keep you updated on our progress.
Politicians
Over the years we have made contact with all of the current Federal Politicians and most either ignore our complaints, or fob them off from Department to Department. From Telecommunications, to Small Business, to Police and finally they end up being fobbed off to the ACCC who can't do anything for us individually. The ACCC are already prosecuting a case with 28 individuals (see above) which started on 2nd October 2008 and will probably finish in 2011 after everyone has been forced to pay out on these illegal contracts. The ACCC has already prosecuted a similar case which started in Dec 2008 and was completed by Sept 2009 and sets a precedent ACCC vs Bill Express. None of the victims had to pay legal expenses and all of the contracts were terminated and the finance Company was forced to refund money to victims. The ACCC cannot change or tighten Laws, this all comes from the Government and Politicians. Had they tightened the Laws and made these contracts illegal, there would not have been a need for us to fight the Finance Companies.
The ONLY Politician to show an interest in our situation is Liberal MP Bruce Billson from Victoria. He has contacted me direct several times by email as well as by telephone, he has contacted victims direct, he has communicated directly with Finance Companies on our behalf and written to the ACCC. From his contact with the ACCC, the ACCC have agreed to help in Court with our Test Cases using Section 73 under the Trade Practises Act and they will appear in Court on our behalf.
I would like to personally thank the efforts of Bruce Billson – Liberal MP from Victoria, and ask that you all remember his efforts come election time.
Not one Member of the Labor Party has tried to help victims (that I am aware of), whether it be a Local Member, State Member or Federal Member.
Police
Michael Daley MP, Minister for NSW Police passed our enquiries onto the Police Commissioner, who forwarded it onto the State Crime Command. The Commander of the Fraud Squad has been alerted to these problems and was going to do a full assessment of the issues raised. I posted an email link to the Police who made contact with us, so that others who believe fraud has been committed in their cases could also forward their complaints for investigation.
I have been contacted by Detective Superintendent, Commander Fraud Squad, State Crime Command in NSW Colin Dyson who has asked me to remove this email address as they are not interested in taking reports of these matters. They originally directed us to everyone’s favourite scapegoat – the ACCC, but after I lodged my complaint with him, he suggests that these matters be reported to the Local Area Command. This is a link to the Fraud Complaint form.
