WARNING: Fraudulent "international patent" invoices

WIPO have previously warned of fake companies issuing fraudulent invoices for "Registration of International Patent" and such like over the years, but sadly, these are not surprisingly, still being received by potential victims, some of who will already know they are fraudulent and just ignore and/or report them, and others that sadly, don't and will simply pay whatever the invoice asks, which can be in excess of 1000 euros.

A friend has recently sent me examples of fraudulent invoices received, and I thought I'd put out a warning (albeit probably not much use for anyone other than those reading this blog, but perhaps the warning will spread to other more popular sites etc).

Although the names of the fake companies varies, so far, a few things have remained constant - namely, the location (in the case of the examples I've been sent, the location has always been Czech Republic, though this is likely a shell company, if anything at all), and bank the criminals are using (Unicredit, which is a legitimate bank). IBAN/account numbera, PO Box numbers etc, are all different depending on the company name.

WIPO have made available, a number of example fraudulent invoices sent to victims, if you'd like to familiarize yourself with them (assuming you aren't already);

http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/cpd.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/cptd2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ecrbp.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/euro_ip_register.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/euro_ip_register2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ibip.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ibip2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ibip3.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/iopr.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/iopts2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/iptd.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/iptr.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/itpd.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/odm4.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/odm5.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/odm6.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/odm7.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/odm8.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ripb.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript1.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript3.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript4.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript5.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript6.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/ript7.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/upts.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wbip.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wbip2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wdtp.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wdtp2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wdtp4.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wdtp5.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wipd.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wipd2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wipd3.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wipd4.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wipt.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wipt3.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/woip.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/woip3.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wpti.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/warning/wpti2.pdf
http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/warning/ibftpr.pdf

If you receive one of these, please first report it to both WIPO, and your local authorities. Please also feel free to send me a copy of them.

References

WARNING: Requests for Payment of Fees
http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/warning/ pct_warning.html

PCT Billing Scam Stopped by Florida Attorney General
http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2009/article_0062.html

Sentencia del Fiscal General de Florida contra un fraude de facturación relacionado con el PCT
http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/es/articles/2009/article_0062.html