Warning

This is a warning regarding a scam artist defrauding Telkom clients, and Online Directory clients.

A scam which can cost companies thousands and lead to an onslaught of harassment has reared its ugly head again.

The so-called White Pages scam, in which a private "advertising company” sends an email to an employee or representative of a business, seems innocent enough at first. It looks like a standard update of your company details for the Telkom white pages, or an update for listings on our privately owned online directory site.

This Durban based company has many aliases. Some of their names are White Business Pages, Telecom Directory, Telecom 1023, Directory Services 2, Business Entries, Business Pages, Telecom Listings and SA Online Listings.

None of the aforementioned companies are intermediaries for the Telkom products, nor do they have the authority or ability to renew, retain or delete listings on our online directory.

Renowned consumer journalist Wendy Knowler advises people who had fallen for the scam "not to pay, certainly not without the receipt of a summons”. She writes that the Advertising Standards Authority has alerted business owners to this "apparent scam” after many complaints regarding the misleading "offer”.

We are agents that facilitate the placement of your company details with the various Telkom entities. We are known as intermediaries, and abide by a strict code of conduct, as set out by Telkom. We are also the owners of Online Directory and only our admin department have access to the publication section of our website.

We have been intermediaries for the Telkom marketing products since 1991 and we established our online directory in 2013.

For further information or queries, our contact details are:

Telephone and WhatsApp: 064 531 2249 or write to us at: [email protected]. or [email protected]

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Roberta Sampson