As you may know FICPI - International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys belongs to the Anti-scam network, and we have just been informed of the publication of the “Procedure manual on handling misleading payment requests for intellectual property system users: Act smart against scammers!” prepared by Europol, in collaboration with EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office.
This was published on 2 May 2023 under the following links:
- https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/guest/-/news/europol-and-euipo-release-procedure-manual-to-combat-misleading-invoices
- https://euipo.europa.eu/portal/en/news/europol-and-euipo-release-procedure-manual-to-combat-misleading-invoices
It is also accessible on the Europol website:
The publication contains:
- An overview of the key issues when facing a misleading invoice or other payment requests,
- Profiles of the fraudsters behind the scams,
- Tips on how to identify misleading communications
- Information on how applicants and IP offices can protect themselves