Blog of Raivo Laanemets

DAD GmbH has been sending out potentially misleading letters to European companies about the European Business Number. The letter gives a false impression that some data has to be verified for some (EBN) registry. The first page of the letter says that "The basic entry and the update are free of charge". However, the second page states different terms. You will enter into an agreement of three years and pay 677 Euros per year. Furthermore, in order to take them into court, you have to do it under Hamburg-Mitte juristiction. EBN is not related to any organization or institution of the European Union or Commission. This is even pointed out in the letter.

Comes out that I'm not the only one receiving these letters. There are other blog articles too.

Update 2016-04-19

Multiple commenters have pointed out that the fee is now 890 Euros per year. Lea (see the comment below for contact) is hoping to fight them.

Update 2016-07-11

I received the letter once again and also got feedback asking how to end the agreement. I did some research. You just need to contact the EBN registry stating that you end the agreement on the basis that it is a fraud. And then you ignore all threats and invoices. Alternatively you can contact your country's Chamber of Commerce or equivalent and ask advice from there. Longer article: Ending (online) fraudulent agreements.

Update 2017-04-02

Similar letters from EU Business Register are being sent to electronic mail addresses. The mail comes with a PDF form referring to the conditions and terms found on the EU Business Register web page. The terms and conditions are not found in the mail or on the form. The conditions include a payment of 2985 EUR for first three years. The name of the service is easy to confuse with the legit European Business Register.