September 16, 2005
Garbage Junk Mail...Website Listing Service Corp - ListingCorp.com
So there are ton of middlemen in the interent industry & business community who try to charge you a fee / tax for your ignorance, or service fee that is IMHO hard to justify.
I remember a long time ago I got a spam mail bill looking thing for $47.50 from www.listingcorp.com
I guess this company sends mail to people who register domains, offering domain submission to search engines (which is done naturally if you just get some quality links pointing at your site).
I find it funny that they sent this mail to me for a domain name about search marketing...it must be nearly 100% automated.
I don't see how they can justify the fee or what exactly the 8 keywords / phrases submission deal is. Seems like uncolicited marketing and probably worth staying away from in my opinion.
What makes it seem even sketchier is that a similar operation with similar page copy (but a different address) comes from Internet Listing Service - ILSCorp.net.
Posted at September 16, 2005 5:08 PMGot a bill for what?
Is this for my e_mail address Or ?
Thanks
Reference # DH21189257
Thank you informing me about the possible business fraud by Listingcorp.com Yes I got from them a promise for listing on 20 search engines for $ 35/year. Tell me about them more. Icannot believe that for $ 35 I can be seen on the internet first pages???
Sincerely,
Emeric Arus, Ph.D. Founder/President of the Int'l. Sendo-Ryu Karatedo Federation
www.sendo-ryu.com
would companies that legitimately knew how to do search engine marketing need to send out bill looking spam mail to have a business model?
I doubt it.
does your market have more than $35 value to it? if so then the competitive marketplace is either going to require greater marketing spend or more personalization.
you are not getting a quality personalized service if you are only spending $35.
I got the same offer from Listing Corp, to list our website for $35. I checked their site and thought it a bit strange that the $35 offer was not mentioned. I also noticed a few typo's which okay, is not a big deal but always makes me rather suspicious.
So I tried to do a search on a few popular search engines for 'Website Listing' and 'Listing Corp'. Surprise, surprise, they didn't appear, so why would I expect our company to be listed if their's isn't?
Steer well clear of this outfit!
well i got the bill and mailed it in, can anybody tell me how to get a hold of this company--listing corp.com---- my bill was like 43.00 and haven;t heard a thing from them other than they cashed my check, any help would be appreciated, thanks, pissed off in ok.
Listing Corp is shady beyond belief. The
"solicitation" looks exactly like a bill, and
a harried secretary might just pay it.
No phone number was listed on the bill-looking
solicitation or the web site. Even the email
contact info says that it might take 10 days to
get back to you. Tear it up and throw it away!
Sadly, even one person coughing up 35 bucks
will pay for a lot of bulk mail.
Hi, I just received a bill from listingcorp.com and then I went on line to research them when I found your web site. Thank you for having these postings so now I will save the money since it is a scam..
Thank you
Joe
I would suggest you start by filing a complaint with the better business bureau:
complaint.bbb.org/
For whatever it's worth they go by a few different addresses:
305 W. Broadway Ave.
New York, NY 10013
1357 Broadway Suite #103
New York, NY 10018
also they have a website: listingcorp.com
they host with a german company called: maxterhost.com
here's a few good search words for the search engines to find this listing THREAD.
WATCH OUT FOR THIS SCAM. LISTING CORP IS A SCAM. LISTINGCORP.COM IS A SCAM. DOMAIN NAME SCAMS. DOMAIN SCAM. DOMIAN SCAM. WHO IS LISTINGCORP?
I build websites, and register a lot of domains for people. I get these solicitations all of the time.
It's a scam. Just write a nasty message on the bill, spend the 39 cents to mail it, and have a little sweet revenge that way!
I got my fake invoice today, March 4, 2006 from Listing Corp.
These scammers have raised their prices to $50. Do not make a mistake and pay that official looking invoice!!!!
I got a letter too. thank goodness that I saw these postings by searching on Google. Otherwise I was getting ready to send in the payment.
Has anyone complained to BBB yet?
We were not so lucky, I am the office mgr at our corporation. We thought this was an affiliation with our REAL domain listing! Before given the time to research it thoroughly the owner instructed me to PAY it immediately for fear of loosing our domain name! Don't fall for this trick!! Now I feel really stupid and there is probably NO WAY to get that $35 back. TAKE TIME!
Hi,
Better than to spend the 39 cents to mail it back. Fill the envelope with a bunch of stuff you know they don't want to see. Do not put anything in it that could possibly lead back to you. Do not put a return address on it, nor stamp. Drop it in the nearest mailbox.
The Post Office has to send it since it's now in their possession, being in a USPS mailbox, and once it gets there, it will arrive Postage Due. So fill it up good, with some nasty stuff.
I'm an idiot- I was in a hurry- paying bills and payed this... thought it was a bill for my web hosting... then I got another bill from my actual web host and realized what had happened. Do I have any recourse to get my money back?
Thanks!
>Do I have any recourse to get my money back?
A few options:
- do a reverse charge on your credit card or a stop payment on you check (although one on your check might cost you $30 to do - it is still refreshing to give your money to your bank over sending it out to a company that bulk mails fake bills)
- link to this page with website listing service corp in the link anchor text (prevent others from getting screwed)
I paid the bill but now they took down my site and domain name. It disappered. So they do something. I am trying to contact them, my site was due I think I have called AT&T where it went thru now they know nothing about it. I am currently out of business! www.amayers.net
here is story that connects some dots on Listing Corp scam and other scammers doing the same thing. I recieved one of these JUNK messages in the mail over the weekend. I had to look twice. It got my domain wrong.. but somehow they got my home address.. those scum bags..
Consumer Alert: Ads That Look Like Bills
www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125366,00.asp
Whoever is running this site.. thanks for making it easy to find out about these crooks at Listing Corp.
was also billed $50.00 from these fools. already contacted my attorney.mabe we can file a class action lawsuit.
Yes I just got the same lame bill today. They wanted $35 for domain submission to 20 top search engines or something like that. I e-mailed them about 4-5 hours ago asking why I got a bill and yet to have a reply. I wish I could join in a class action lawsuit but I don't think I can sense I'm under 18.
Never been scammed before... like others, I received a bill for $35 that contained my domain name. My wife asked if it should be paid... without looking, I said, "Of course".... If anyone is going after these clowns, count me in. Incidently, I went to their website and tried to contact them using the contact address, "info@listingcorp.com".. it, of course, went nowhere.
My son is doing my website,it is not even up yet,I got a bill and paid $35.00,I was informed that I was pd up for a year and got ripped off,he was right.Someone needs to call Michael Finney at channel,7 in San Francisco,he loves to go after poeple like this.
Heidi
Thanks for this post. I was about to sign the check and send to "Listing corp" for our new website but decided to look this up on google and came on your post. Thanks all.
Sayo Ajiboye
www.christianradioafrica.com
While out of the office last week a so-called bill came and the person in charge of paying bills did too pay $65.00 upon my return and looking I noted that this was a scam. Such co-called companies should not be allowed to bother non-suspecting persons.
Do anyone ever get their money back?
i also got the "bill" had i not seen this i might have paid does anyone have contact info for these crooks
Thank the lord I found you I was about to use them for $65! The Bastards!!!
my dad fell for it.
poor guy.......i'm trying to fix it. i just sent in a complaint to the attorney general's office of Michigan.
I feel so bad. My dad is an owner of an engineering company that isn't doing so good right now, and he thought that buying into "LISTINGCORP.COM" would help advertise.
Well, i've been trying for a week to get ahold of them via email, and no luck.
i finally tried looking up some type of review for them, and found nothing but information like this blog, about how big of a scam it is.
the check is cashed, and it doesn't look like he's getting that money back.
greedy selfish scamming bastards.
my poor dad. =(
I also was taken for a ride. I got a new web page and just wanted to get our name out so we could get business.I tried to email,sent a letter, couldn't find a telephone number so I was out of sources to find them.I sent them $40.00.
August 9, 2006
I also was taken for a ride also but for $65.00. I found out that they scammed me when I send them an e-mail asking them to change my key words after receiving a report from them. I saw what others had put and wanted to change mine. I sent an e-mail to their help desk. Two weeks later had heard notting and my key words had not been changed. So I sent them a 2nd e-mail asking them if they had gotten the 1st. It came back.
The original message was received at Tue, 8 Aug 2006 23:12:06 -0400 (EDT)
from imo-d05.mail.aol.com [172.18.150.229]
*** ATTENTION ***
Your e-mail is being returned to you because there was a problem with its
delivery. The address which was undeliverable is listed in the section
labeled: "----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----".
The reason your mail is being returned to you is listed in the section
labeled: "----- Transcript of Session Follows -----".
The line beginning with "
I just received a letter from ListingCorp.com and it looks like a bill, but above the portion that you are supposed to return, it says in bold letters:
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.
I go taken by this company for $35.00. For some reason I thought it was a bill to renew my domain name. I feel like a jerk.
I received a bill from LISTINGCORP.COM in todays mail. They now want $65 for up to 8 key words to 20 MAJOR search engines. Thanks for the information on them.
Thank god I typed these peoples name into Google!!! This was the very first site that was listed! Theirs wasn't even on the first page of results. They're so good they can't even get their own domain name on top of the list, huh?
What a scam this must be! The letter or "bill" I recieved was very poorly printed, with typographical errors, poor paper quality, low quality ink, etc. They couldnt even line up the paper with the printer, as the entire thing is tilted to the left.
They are such a large and spectacular service, yet they don't offer to accept credit cards? Odd! They are such a big company with inside deals with all of these top search engines, yet their website is something out of a 14 year old's computer! Even I can create a better looking website with the technology/programs out nowadays!
Give me a break listingcorp, you guys suck!
I suggest all of you that have already sent them a check to make your bank aware of this scam! Now that they have your account number, god only knows what they could do!
Just my $0.02
Be safe. Be well. Be Conscious!
-M. Shane Hill
BTW...They tried to get me for $65.00 for one year of SEO and reports.
Guess they have increased their charge. Either to make up for all of these people they are loosing, or to increase the amount of money they make due to the overwhelming amount of people who actually buy into this scam!
$65.00? I don't even pay that much to have all of my websites for a year, and I own 4!
Again, just my $0.02
-M. Shane Hill
I just got a letter from listing corp.com 2 days ago, Sept. 23, 2006. I am “required” to pay $65. But they mentioned on the back of their “bill” that “This is not a bill. This is a solicitation”. Still, they are, IMHO, scammers. Their phone number in whois is invalid and providing incorrect domain registration info is a violation of US law.
I just got a letter from listing corp.com 2 days ago, Sept. 23, 2006. I am “required” to pay $65. But they mentioned on the back of their “bill” that “This is not a bill. This is a solicitation”. Still, they are, IMHO, scammers. Their phone number in whois is invalid and providing incorrect domain registration info is a violation of US law.
Just adding my two cents to the list... I also received this 'bill' at my address in southwest Michigan, and immediately went looking for a phone number so I could chew out the owner... I am disappointed that no such contact information is available and valid, but I'm glad that the first search result is a resource like this that will educate those saavy enough to do some research before the write a check.
How shady! Sure enough the charge has gone up to $65, which was my first clue since my domain name/hosting didn't cost anywhere near that.
This is misleading for sure, and it took me awhile to figure out it was a "scam". Since it has been aggravating people since November of 2005, I assume it's somehow legal. If it did make it to court though, I imagine there is enough confused/mislead people out there to convince the judge to rule against them. Count me in!
People who do business like this have no place making a penny!
Is there anyone out there who can vouch that this company did anything for them after sending a payment? If not, then not only is it misleading, but it MUST be criminal!
KC
Thanks to all of you that are taking enough time putting this information for persons like me. I've received my "bill" now for $65 and thank god I thought something was wrong and did my (very) little research to find out of this big scam...
Fran
Just today I also received a solicitation from listingcorp.com for $65.00 a year on 20 search engines.My first red flag was that my web hosting company allows me to submit to many for free (not all the major sites but I figure you have to start somewhere, right?) Since I am new to all this, I find great comfort in the fact that I can find support and guidance that prevents me from making costly and stupid mistakes.Many Thanks to you!!
I pity the fool who pays the spammer and gets
nothing in return. Listingcorp a ship of fools.
I received the same $65.00 bill.
the dum-dums at listingcorp spend money for
printing/ mailing a scam-deal.
Best to stop listingcorp ? Post a list of
junk-mailers on your company bulletin board as a
way of warning your associates about them.
I am the president of APAA. The website of Apaa with address of www.apaaweb.com has disapeared. I would like to know if there is any problem. Please respond.
Dr. Rahmany