Yet another fake company cold calling former EZE Group owners stating that monies have been obtained for compensation, in the case we investigated the sum was €19,000. Before we go any further we wish to point out that apart from the criminal charges and custody order handed down by Birmingham Crown Court in March 2019, there has been no other court case, so quite where the supposed awards come from is anybody’s guess. Apparently, in conjunction with a lawyer in Madrid, funds have now been obtained to pay out victims. We find this odd as EZE Group never had a Spanish entity. When searching Spanish Companies House, there is no reference to EZE in any shape or form. Without going into the number of Spanish companies with the three letter E Z E in their name. Below is an extract of our search for EZE Group:
Following on from this, if there is no Spanish legal entity, how could a lawyer in Madrid have any jurisdiction?
European Debt Recovery Services – The investigation
As usual, we will look at the company, the website, the dates and contact details. Starting with the company, despite the company purporting to have a UK presence, as they quote a London contact number, no company by the name of European Debt Recovery Services exists in Companies House records. The nearest we could get was European Debt Recovery Ltd but this was dissolved in 2015.
We said earlier that the company seems to be UK based, however, on the contact us page of the website there is no physical address quoted, which is always a very bad sign. Speaking of the website, the domain name was only registered on 16th November 2022, so as we write about 6 months old. Of interest is that the hosting server and web provider are based in Moldova.
On investigation of the contact number quoted, we found the following:
“This number is not from an allocated number range. If you have received a call from this number, it is likely that the caller is spoofing their identity.”
This would seem to confirm that the number is Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) meaning it could be anywhere in the world, our best guess, as usual, is that this scam is being run from Spain.
TCA Comment
In summary, it all begins with a cold call from someone who knows more about you than they should. Adding it all together, we have a company that doesn’t exist calling from a phone number they shouldn’t have to people they have no legal right to call offering monetary rewards from a court case that doesn’t exist. All in all, if you are called by European Debt Recovery Services, steer clear.
Although we didn’t find out how much cost would be involved, for sure there will be a request for payment and that, if paid, will be money down the drain. Finally just remember one thing: No one ever lost any money by putting the phone down on a cold call.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk