BUSINESSES are being warned to be on the lookout for bogus invoices which have flooded into the area.

The warning comes from Trading Standards officers after they received complaints from companies which have been faxed invoices from a Swizterland-based company.

The message from International Telex and Telefax Directories asks companies to fork out £446.20p to be included on an international telefax directory.

Chris Allen, chief trading standards officer at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "I have received a number of complaints about these bogus invoices and I am warning companies to be on the lookout for them.

"These incidents tend to happen in cycles and once they start to appear, businesses across the area are flooded with the invoices.

"It is very easy for a company to receive the fax and without realising send it to the accounts department who write off a cheque for a service they haven't or won't receive."

He added: "It is quite a lot of money that I am sure no company can afford to write off but when you consider how many businesses there are in the area we could be talking about thousands of pounds."

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