Confederacy of a Dunce - Clothing collection scams

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

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Over the past few months I've been obsessively collecting and categorizing every piece of advertising that finds its way through our letterbox (ie, not addressed to us or delivered by the postal service). One surprisingly common category is the dodgy clothing collection company. I've mentioned a couple of these in previous posts (Silverwall; Island of Hope) but now have a whole slew of them. A baker's dozen, as it happens, and oddly they are all exactly the same format, though purportedly coming from a number of different companies. They're all printed on a slightly glossy, lightweight stock (size A3), and they all feature the words CLOTHING COLLECTION in large, prominent type. They all mention that donated clothing will go to poor people (about half of them refer vaguely to third world countries, and half to Eastern European countries). And they all have small print which explains that they are not in fact charitable organizations. Since they have so much in common, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are actually coming from exactly the same people. The company details listed on the advertising sheets appear below; if you find this post searching for more info on one of these companies I'd be quite interested in your comments.

Silverwall Ltd. (2 ads) I've mentioned this company before. Their advert includes an odd picture of two small shirtless boys (presumably in the throes of poverty, but who in fact look like they're playing on the beach). They're providing people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. Information on the ad includes gives a company registration number (5433460) and a mobile telephone number 07769 811992. Looking up this number on the Webcheck service at Companies House (official register of UK businesses) show that this company was incorporated in April 2005 and has current status of "Active - Proposal to Strike off".

Orellana Ltd. (2 ads). No picture, just a stylized image of clothing as a background. They too are providing people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. They list registration number 5496347 and a hotmail address (orellana_support@hotmail.com). This company actually appears as "dissolved" on the Companies House website (incorporated 1 July 2005, dissolved 27 June 2006). It's somewhat strange that a dissolved company would continue to solicit products.

Europe Suppliers Ltd. (2 ads). This one has a blurry picture of a dove as the background. Unlike the previous two, they provide people in need Eastern Europe countries with affordable clothes for them and their families it provides jobs in Eastern European countries for those sorting the clothes for distribution [sic]. Another company registration number (5401427) and another hotmail address (europesupplier@hotmail.co.uk). And hey, it's another company with a status of "Active - Proposal to Strike off" (incorporated April 2003).

Ambertop Ltd. (3 ads). Two of these have background images of small children; the third has a truly bizarre image of cats, possibly photoshopped to make it look like one has an arm around the other (I'll have to scan it in when I have a moment). They provide people in need in Eastern European companies with affordable clothes for them and their families [sic]. And yet another registration number (5333502) and hotmail address (ambertop_support@hotmail.com). Hey, wait a minute, Ambertop was dissolved on 11 April 2006 (incorporated 17 January 2005). See any patterns here yet?

But what about Cotrado Ltd.? (2 ads). An image of three miserable children (perhaps taken from Depression-era stock images). This company provide people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. Registration number? Check (5545502). Anonymous contact info? Check (mobile number 07792 270755). This company is just barely cold, having only been dissolved a few weeks back (incorporated 24 August 2005, dissolved 28 November 2006).

But wait, there's more! General L&A Wardship Ltd.. Decorated with clip art reminiscent of Hands Across America, this one doesn't even bother with contact information, providing only a company registration number (5477636). This one also uses a slightly different spiel: Can you spare any of your old unwanted clothes whitch will send to the third world where the garments will be carefully sorted and worn again [sic]. And hey, for once this is an active company (incorporated 10 June 2005), with a relevant business type actually listed with Companies House (Nature of Business (SIC(03)): 5116 - Agents in textiles, footwear etc.; registered at 71 EMMOTT AVENUE, ILFORD). But it still looks very questionable to me.

And finally, one that doesn't even include a company name (background image, three nerdy children sitting in someone's back garden). They provide people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. And provide a company number (5482825) and anonymous email address (pajuryss@yohoo.co.uk [sic]). This company (PAJURYS LTD of Leyton) is active, but proposed to be struck off (incorporated 16 June 2005).

All in all, a healthy stack of unwanted clothing collection scam advertisements. How much unwanted clothing do they think we have?

consume

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 5:24:43 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)