Question:
I have received several emails asking me to join the new ‘cheap’ telephone service at http://www.ictel.co.za/index.php.

Although it looks as if calls could possibly be an incentive, it seems to be suspiciously close to a pyramid or at least a marketing scheme to me.

What is your opinion on this, please?

Answer:
I had a look at the site and also registered to see what they are offering. I have a number of concerns.

They provide no contact details, physical address or telephone numbers. So it is impossible to get a measure of who is behind the company. I emailed them to get in touch with me and they said the following:

“Please read through the website as the support does not accommodate calls in or out until the launch of the product (the rate of support will be overwhelming). If you require any further assistance, feel free to contact us. iCtel Support Team.”

Even though I informed them that I was doing a story on them and it may not be favourable they did not bother to contact me. A reputable company would have reacted strongly.

I did a search on the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office of South Africa (CIPRO) website and it indicates that they were registered on 21 January 2008, but that’s the only information available.

Here are my concerns:

In my experience if a company fails to post contact details they have something to hide. Usually a new company will have a team of people willing to answer the public’s questions.

They divulge nothing about the product or how it works; they promise cheap calls but give no details of how this will be achieved. It takes billions of Rands to set up new networks, how come the media have not been informed? And who put up the money?

They use free advertisement sites to get the word out about their company — notably ‘Gumtree’, a real breeding ground for scam artists.

They are basically looking for as many email addresses as possible to send their message to, but offering nothing but promises.

There was a similar ‘cheap call scam’ a few years back so I would be cautious. Their focus is on the multi level selling rather than the service they offer.

So in other words don’t part with any money or give out personal information until they have proven they are a legitimate outfit. We may be in for a long wait. I will keep you posted.