State officials are warning of a mail scam targeted at businesses in the state — and possibly private individuals. Attorney General Tom Miller says an Ohio company call “Yellow Pages Plus” has sent out mailings that look almost exactly like the phone bills sent out by the Qwest telephone company.He says the idea is that companies get a bill that they’re used to paying, and some companies, or individuals may pay the bill thinking it’s for phone service. The bogus bill use the same color scheme and format as the Qwest bills. Miller says the state has taken action. Miller says they’ve sent a “cease and desist” order to the company, he says they also expect refunds and are contemplating litigation. Miller says the bills received so far in Iowa list a total of 241-dollars-and-46 cents. Qwest of Iowa president, Max Phillipps, encourages customers to look over their bills carefully. He says the Qwest bills always prominently display the company’s logo, and always have numbers a customer can call with questions. Phillipps says the company has obviously sent the scam letters out randomly.He says Qwest even received one of the invoices billing them for directory services they hadn’t ordered. The Attorney General says you should throw out the phony invoices, unless you’ve already sent in money, then contact his office.
