MEPs and EU national governments are near to agree Europe- wide legislation that should reduce telephone prize scams and rogue internet trading. In the light of today's revelations from the Office of Fair Trading that Britons lose out from marketing scams to the tune of £1bn a year, the news will be welcomed by those who have suffered at the hands of these commercial practices.

As a member of the Parliament's Internal Market Committee, which is responsible for the law, Bill Newton Dunn (Liberal Democrat MEP for the East Midlands) commented,

"Nearly all of us have experienced the problem of unwanted phone calls telling us that we have won a prize. Then when you ring the number back you are strung along for a premium phone call usually lasting several minutes. Many of these traders base themselves in another country to escape action. The new legislation will help to get to grips with this, both at home and right across Europe. "

There have been a number of instances of consumers misleading other consumers through websites such as eBay with vendors posing as a private seller or a seller's agent when they actually are acting as a business or trade.
As consumers they fall outside the normal consumer protection legislation and so no redress is available.
 
Contact:
Bill Newton Dunn on +32 2 284 5712 or Christina Meinshausen
on +32 2 284 7712