Schools and businesses in Kent have fallen victim to a
nationwide scam.

Fraudsters are posing as staff from the Yellow Pages and emailing invoices to
schools and businesses in the county.

Trading Standards
say the invoices look authentic and many are paying the bill
without checking whether they advertise with Yell or who they are
paying.

Marion Ward is from Kent Trading Standards: "What they are doing
is sending you an invoice, often by email, leading you to believe
you owe between £600 and £700 but actually you do not.

"We are asking business, schools and nursing homes in Kent just
to check. Don't pay it just because someone says."

A spokesman for Yell said: "We take our responsibilities for
consumer protection very seriously and as a responsible company are
committed to supporting and protecting the users of our products
and services and our advertisers.

"We don't hesitate to take legal action if necessary to protect
our brand and safeguard our registered trademarks."