"We're with the FSB, and would like to update you about forthcoming changes to the law". So said a caller on the phone to one of our team, and I got the message to call back. Which I duly did.
It seemed a bit odd to the person who took the call that the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses), who have never called nationally before, and are pretty inactive locally at the moment, would be calling. Perhaps a random survey? Anyway - despite the yellow "caution" flag I called back ...
It seems that the company calling are "with" the FSB like we are - they are paid up members of the FSB, but probably no more than that ... and they are visiting pages like the FSB Network page where members can be listed to help sell their services to fellow members, so that they can get in touch and make what is - I believe - a misleading approach.
We're very used to calls like this claiming to be BT and Pitney Bowes ... but the FSB is a new one on me. Clever - but very misleading. It turned out that the caller was really looking to get us to change our energy supplier!
(written 2009-12-03, updated 2009-12-04)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z401 - Federation of Small Businesses [1078] Wiltshire - multicultural community - (2007-02-13)
[1097] Train and business balls all in the air! - (2007-03-02)
[1133] B-2-B Networking, 20th April. Useful for YOUR business? - (2007-04-03)
[1157] Speed Networking - a great evening and how we arranged it - (2007-04-21)
[1246] An oddball day. Strange experiences! - (2007-06-27)
[1249] Is this how to run a business for businesses? - (2007-06-27)
[1278] West Wilts Show - (2007-07-26)
[1284] An update on the West Wilts show ... - (2007-07-30)
[1286] A wasted evening? - (2007-08-01)
[1350] FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) Western Region - (2007-09-13)
[1479] FSB leaves its members feeling like mushrooms - (2007-12-20)
[1512] Summer Ball at Bowood - Saturday 12th July 2008 - (2008-01-19)
[1515] Keeping staff up to date on hotel room status - (2008-01-22)
[1544] FSB, EGM, AGM. - (2008-02-18)
[1654] The old sayings are the best (FSB) - (2008-05-26)
[1823] FSB - an update. - (2008-10-07)
[1855] Volunteer v Employee - a skewed balance? (FSB) - (2008-10-25)
[1880] Melksham Chamber of Commerce, or the FSB - (2008-11-12)
[1937] Getting hold of the wrong end of the stick - (2008-12-12)
[2517] Blogging accuracy - open invitation for any corrections - (2009-11-29)
[3032] Coincidence, or Conspiracy - a wrong email address - (2010-11-06)
[3214] Melksham Campus - any last minute inputs from Melksham businesses? - (2011-03-26)
[3522] Networking - North and West Wilts FSB Style - (2011-11-15)
G910 - Well House Consultants - Scams [78] Domain Registry of America - (2004-10-07)
[178] Calling a spade a spade - (2005-01-15)
[347] Frightening and from-friend viruses and spams - (2005-06-14)
[860] Warning - false emails, said to be from Paypal - (2006-09-09)
[1313] Tratum Technologies - (2007-08-21)
[1342] Google, wwmdirectory, Freshwater, ATP - new scam? - (2007-09-09)
[1680] Astroturfing - the online definition - (2008-06-17)
[1772] Ken Palm, iTime, and Domain Name Tasting - (2008-08-25)
[1795] What have iTime, honeytrapagency and domain listing center got in common? - (2008-09-12)
[2373] Translation from Ghanaian to English - (2009-08-23)
[2403] Hotel Booking Scam / Cost of calls to 070 numbers - (2009-09-12)
[2690] The World Company Register - is it another scam? - (2010-03-23)
[2895] Global Computer Maintenance Department - (2010-07-29)
[2988] Not mugged in London! - (2010-10-08)
[3222] Clickjacking - another way to get you to follow a malicious link - Facebook issue - (2011-03-29)
[3291] Pay and refund scam - alive and kicking against Melksham businesses - (2011-05-16)
[3480] Direct Message: Really horrible blog about you ... a clever phishing trip, said to be from an MP - (2011-10-14)
[3859] Youve Been Selected for the 2012 Edition of the Global Registry - (2012-09-16)
[4385] A booking that looks too good to be true? It probably is too good to be true! - (2015-01-05)
[4651] Pressure selling in the fire safety business - (2016-02-19)
Some other Articles
Melksham Christmas LightsFlying tonightA reluctance to move from old shoes to newUsing JSPs, Tag Libraries, Java Beans, Tomcat in one short exampleAn update on legal changes from the FSB?Plan your application before you startIntegrated public Transport - what could be done for MelkshamMelksham Market - Tuesdays, 09:00 to 14:00Global and Enable - two misused words!Status Page / breaks of service in early December