In recent weeks a number of false ‘blacklists’ have been circulated via the internet, purportedly originating from ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) and ICC Financial Investigation Bureau (FIB).

In recent weeks a number of false ‘blacklists’ have been circulated via the internet, purportedly originating from ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) and ICC Financial Investigation Bureau (FIB).

CCS Director Pottengal Mukundan states: “CCS does not produce, endorse or in any way develop or maintain any sort of ‘blacklist’ of corporations or individuals. We are currently investigating the origins of these lists and will take appropriate action when we identify those responsible.”

These bogus lists feature the contact details of individuals and companies supposedly compiled by CCS. These fraudulent documents feature the unauthorized use of CCS corporate insignia and the name of a former FIB Assistant Director is included at the bottom of each page.

The phony blacklists were originally mass e-mailed to numerous German companies. The information in the e-mail was not only completely fabricated, but also contained false details with respect to its origin.

Mr Mukundan added, “It appears that these lists have been circulated with the intent of damaging the reputations of the listed companies. These lists have the potential to harm legitimate trade and honest corporations. They should be completely disregarded and given no credence whatsoever.”

CCS advises companies concerned about the validity of these lists to verify the domain name of the website publishing the information. This will confirm that the websites are neither ICC nor CCS operated.

In the past, such lists were purported to have been issued by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). ICC disclaims any information concerning the illegal or fraudulent behaviour of individual companies or persons. The full disclaimer can viewed online at: http://www.iccwbo.org/id9606/index.html

Anyone who may have any further information regarding these fake blacklists is urged to contact CCS at: ccs@icc-ccs.org