World Connect review: Don't know how this company got my Contact details 93

I had a phone call on Monday from World Connect offering the exact same thing and saying that even if I did not win the car I was GUARANTEED one of the other top prizes!
Another phone call today from 'Tracey' (stage name I'm sure) to confirm the address and time. Even to say the dress code is Smart Casual HA!

Luckily this rang alarm bells as I had already been duped in to a similar 'prize draw' scam a few years back by a Company trying to sell me time share, I wouldn't be surprised if it was World Connect the last time too! Anyway I decided to check up on the web, and lucky I did.
Perhaps I'll attempt to inconvenience them by playing along but never actually turning up. I hope they go to some expense, I seem to remember snacks and drinks the last time but the free food wouldn't make up for the fuel costs. Ah well.

Can't believe this is still allowed to go on, and it's not just a problem in South Africa either.
Disappointing to say the least, why they have to mislead people is beyond me. Why don't they simply advertise time-share in order to sell time-share?!

I got the call on the 10th of March. Michael was his name and he gave me the same ref no as some of the other bloggers J351. Interesting hey? I had a chat with good old GOOGLE and voila! I saved myself alot of time and money. Yesterday 11/3 when Tracey called, I told her I wasn't interested. She put down the phone so quickly without even asking why.

I can not believe it! Michael called me again today 12/3. Didn't even wait for him to tell me why he is calling me againafter I told Tracey yesterday that I'm not interested. I just told him I am not interested in time share. He put the phone down without saying another word...LOL

today 17 March 2010 i got the same call the lady's name was Busie, telling me i'm a guaranteed winner of some price and i have to come to their offices in Carlsworld to claim the prize as the sponsors will be in tommorrow 6pm. I was also told to bring my spouse with. Thank God i thought of google only to find all these comments. I'm suprised they still using the same tactic for such a long time and nothing can be done to stop them.

Got a call today (7 April 2010) with exactly the same details as listed above. List of prices the same (Chevvy Spark, Ice maker, Quad bike, etc etc). The agent was Thandi using telephone number [protected]). The latest scam will be 9 April in Midrand.

I received a call today (8 April 2010) to say that I entered a competition via sms last year October for a Chevvy Spark and is one of 5 lucky winners. I am guaranteed to win one of the prices. (List of prices is a Chevvy Spark, Ice maker, Quad bike, Ipod, Garmin GPS or Midweek Breakaway for 2 people.) But I have to be there in person in Midrand on Saturday the 10th. Didn't suspect anything funny as I do enter competitions from time to time, and I haven't won anything like this ever! I asked them to send me the details via fax to confirm.

Thank you to everybody that wrote to report this, and to Google! I am living in the Western Cape, so Midrand is almost on the other side of the country - I almost booked a flight in order to be there for the draw. Luckily I tried the hotline number as per the fax [protected]) and could not get through. So I Googled World Connect and what a surprise (or rather shock) to learn that it is a scam.

same thing happened to me only his name was Adrain a indian guy form what he claims is a company called new vision but the frist lady said to me that this company's name is world connect . thank god for the internet .also got invited to 28 guildford drive in midrand. im a scaptic at heart so i knew it was to gud to be true . even though i am i still wana know of any body that really went the a what they came back home with .did they get any thing or where they never herd of again ?[human traficing is my suspision] ! has any body gone the nine rounds with them an lived to tell the tale ?

Hey ppl thank you so much i recieved a call yesterday 20.04 2010 saying im in the final draw to win a car and since i'm 24yrs i should bring my parents or partner if he's more than 25 so that i can win this car. The've also faxed me invitation with a ref no J676. Tomorrow on the 22.04.2010 i was about to travel from witbank to midrand VIP Building thank goodness i decided to google the company world connect before travel to get more info. I'm surprise as did not enter any competition in a while plus i dont know where they got my contact. Thank you again for warning us, please somebody must do something about this.

Thank you Google and complaintsboard.com for the heads up they called me the same scheme even the same phone nr. A bunch of cruks when they gone call me again to give me directions I will give them my 2c about them.

Hulle het my ook nounet gebel. Ek het gelukkig voot die rekenaar gesit en hulle besigheid naam opgesoek. Hierdie copplaint site het eerste opgepop en ek het vinnig gelees en haar vertel wat ek lees. Toe gooi sy die foon in my oor neer. Dankie dan

I received the same phone call on Friday 14 May 2010 saying that I also stood a chance to win a Chevy QQ Spark or one of the runner up prizes. The same lady, Sheila, called and said that I should leave my money at home. She said that they are aware that we are in a time when scams are around and that they are not associated to any travel schemes and would not try sell me anything. That it would take 30min then we could leave. She said that I had to bring my partner with so that if we do win the Chevy that he can sign witness. She asked me for my age, but the fact that I'm 23 didn't seem to be an issue.

The funniest thing is that my reference number is also J548. They can't even think of anything a little bit more original. The lady that called the second time to give me the directions was Tracey [protected].

Thank goodness for Google & the Complaintsboard.com!

Wow I cant believe how naive I am! When I first received the call I immediately said I'm not interested because its sounds like utter nonsense to me she somehow convinced me its legit! However ironically if you are promoting a company ie World Connect why is the site reference given as OurWinners? Thank god for Google and sites such as this one! Secondly I said to her i want email verification proof of being finalist and all details of the company, not surprisingly I never received this. I was certain I never entered but she was so persistent, ridiculously I almost got confused whether I had entered or had not. I was also invited to this 'Gilford Road' Im just so grateful to be aware now of their real reputation!

Hi I received a call 20 May 2010, Ref J657 from World Connect, nr [protected] same thing, have to come in for the draw for same staff, plus food and drinks incl. I couldn't remember any competition that I entered for that and thought with the name World Connect it should be something to do with maybe a Cellphone place. Well thank goodness I search on internet for the name and saw all the people that "won"!

Thanks for the information!

They are going to phone me today, to give me the address. Think i should involve the police?

They phoned me on friday 21 May (sheila) and today Monday (Tracey) to give me directions to Midrand. Same reference number J548 and told me I am a certain winner of one of 5 prizes incl. 2 holidays, icemaker, quadbike or a car. However I am very curious to see what's gonna happen once I pitch at this place in Midrand? Has anyone done it before? I have to be there tomorrow with my girlfriend at 2 o'clock. And how did they get my details like name and cellphone number?

Thank you for this website. You saved me a trip and time on 9 May 2010. Rene

This scam is still alive, Allen [protected] and [protected] gave ref number J707 to my wife. Thanks Google, saved us a trip and from being scammed. same stuff to be won- Quadbike, generator, getaway, Icemaker, Kenya Holiday. They have my wife and I's details, I think they had a table at Centurion mall one Saturday over a year selling raffle tickets!

There seems to be no end to human ingenuity and one must admire this lot for their persistence. My story virtually repeats word-by-word everyone else's experience: I got a phone call from Thobisile from the same [protected] number advising me that I had entered into a competition to win a car in Sandton (I live in Sandton - Sandton is big and the general reference amongst Sandtonians when saying "Sandton" means the City or the Square) and that it is my lucky day to participate in a draw to win a car, quad bike, holiday, and whatnot. So far, so good, because I had in fact had entered into a competition to win a car. Then good old Thobisile wanted to know my surname, my age, and my occupation. This is when alarm bells started ringing. Then she gave me my reference number (J745 - one could suppose business is good, since the first complaints, dating from 2008 use a double-digit figure) and advised that I should bring my spouse along. By this time alarm bells were deafening, because it is well-known that a sales pitch will go down if one has to consult a spouse. At any rate, I kept quiet, because I wanted to know their next step and I had not made any commitments rather than attending. So today I got a call from Tracey, from the same number, to confirm attendance and to get the address of the draw. Tracey could not email it to me "because they were offline" and she could not text it "because they don't text" so I took down the Guildford Rd address in Midrand, the same VIP outfit. God bless Google, of course, and many thanks for your input. As they would be laying out food and drinks for me, then it might as well be that they go through the unnecessary expense. I will simply spend my day doing better things.

R
I just “submit a Story” on the carte blanche website… so let’s see what happens.. Maybe more ppl should actualy submit the story to carte blanche instead of just suggesting it?

Well, well.

I have cancelled an important appointment, my wife declined an offer to do traing for a crowd for today(R4500-00 worth)
I had to make arrangements to get a sitter.

When I got the call from Thandi [protected], I naturally asked where they got my details... sms competition blah blah.
Guaranteed price same as all the others. My reference number is however J105.

I am NOT going, I will be following up with this crowd, they have p!ssed off the wrong guy now!
I guess a visit to number 28 Guilford Rd, Carlswald is in order to claim my " guaranteed price"

I will also be giving them an Invoice for my wife's lost income for today, as well as an invoice for the babysitter.

Failing a positive outcome on this, I will sue for my car, quad, icemaker, i-pod, 5.5kva generator and holiday away anywhere in South Africa.

Watch this space, I WILL report back.
J.

Called them up.
I assured Godfrey I will be there tomorrow, and I want my prize.

Will let you guys know how it went.

J.

hey i also recieved a call about 15min ago(5 /8/2010), from synthia [protected]) she told me someone else won the car but im the 2nd runner up and won a 5 days paid holiday anywhere in sa, , and that i should come to their office( vip office) in midrand on saterday with my wife.( ref: j723).

i said no problem ill be there for this is not the first time they phoned me. but they will just find me not attending this scam. thanks to this page.

Also just got a call and my ref number is J756, (06/08/2010), the whole thing sounds bizarre from the beginning, i mean surely i'd remember what competitions i've entered! so sad!

I got a call today from Interways. This seem to be the same scam! The prize at Tuesdays draw is a Cherry QQ with the obligatory quad bike, generator, holiday, weekend away and ice maker (what's with the ice maker? are they a huge drawcard?) for those who miss out on the car! Everyone will go home with a prize! They are also throwing in the 2 free meal vouhers – this one is at the Design Quarter (well actually they couldn’t tell me the name of the shopping centre because they are ‘not familiar’ with the area but it’s at the corner of William Nicol and Leslie = Design Quarter) and that I will get a call on Monday with details and directions. My reference number is J231. I was called by Kelly [protected] and I should expect a call from the events coordinator Anna on Monday with details. I was given a ‘hotline’ number should I have any queries [protected]. I was told I have to be there by 6:00 and gates close at 6:20 sharp so if I’m late I won’t be able to get in. Figured it was all a scam to decided to google it. I also have to bring my partner along etc. So, I just wanted to warn all to beware of a new name used in these scams – Interways!

Hi...I received a call from Johan Fraser ([protected])...said I entered a competition on 10th February 2010...via sms for a Cherry QQ. I have not won the main prize yet I am in the draw along with 14 other couples. I am, however a guarenteed winner for 1 of 5 gifts...quad bike, an ice maker, ipod, local holiday and a holiday in Kenya...I have never entered such a competition in my life...But decided to go along to hear abit more about this...My referenceJ449...I received a call today from Tracy the Events Co-Ordinator...who gave me directions. I am a mother with 3 kids...so I very graciously asked if they could also accomodate my kids. Luckily for me they agreed and I have to have my spouse with me. After seeing these comments by so many people I feel so disgusted that there are people like this, that feel nothing into luring people with a scam of such nature. The draw is tomorrow night at 6pm. I have a good mind to go there and give these people a piece of my mind. Really, on a week night..exhausted from work, tagging 3 kids around all just for Timeshare!...I am very very irrate..watch this space ...

I got a call from these crooks (Michael and Tracey from World Connect) on 10/08/2010, googled them and decided not to go to their prize giving presentation in Midrand. Michael called me to find out why I didnt pitch. I gave him (Michael) a piece of my mind, I told them they're scammers, crooks and cheat people out of their hard earned money and he dropped the call on me, very nice.

Thank you for all the posts.
The story is exactly same. 6 prizes, reference number, and couples gotta come...etc.
The office number is [protected].
By googling i saved very valuable time of mine and wife.
Worldconnect is a company that connects you to a big scam. Everybody should watch out!

These guys dont give up hey! got the same call yesterday, i am scared though at these scammers having my number, name and surname.

Hi Guys

It is amazing that these crooks have been doing this for a long time, i also got the same call from the same peolple claiming that i have won a holiday for two to some place i cant even remember, then i decidedto gooogle this aress of theirs and thanks God i found this site.

I wonder what happens if you visit the adress that they give to people.

HI Guys.

I got a call today from a lady called Keiysha. She claimed to be from New Vision and said she was calling on behalf of the sponsors Quality Vacation Club. She didn;t give me specific details about how or where or when I had entered the competition, but gave me a reference number and said I had won free dineer and a voucher to use for any of teh QVC accomodations anywhere in South Africa. She said call centre number is [protected].

Strangely enough I had received a call from the same number two weeks ago but this had to do with me having won a car. Rewards included generators, quadbikes etc.

Where on earth do these people get contact details from! Very concerning!

Just received a phone call from a company called new vision and said I won a holiday for 4 people food and accomodation paid! She didn't ask for any details, but she promised it was no scam! But I am not easily fooled and decided to google before I make my decision and so glad I have... Same phone number used as I see some of you put on previous: [protected].

Just got my second call this week from World Connect, please tell me how the hell it is possible to win the same dam car two days in a row?[censor]s!I am rather desparate to give them a little visit with the police, are they allowed to do this to consumers?Waste of time!Im desparate to hear from Godfrey (event co-ordinator), I think he is about to find a new job after I waste his time today, lets see how long I can keep him on the phone for.

Hurraa, we just won a price as well, tx to Michael, ref J351 AND I am expected to collect my price together with ma wife tomorrrow at 4, Midrand, never enterd any sort of competion, but coincidently we are the winners, Of what? Only GOD Knows. This company need to be closed, spend the whole 15 minutes of my time speaking to this [censor]TT, Tx Google,

Wow it really seems as if these people at world connect are busy, cause I just got a call from a guy called innocent advising me that I am one of the five lucky winners that numbers were drawn from a sms competition to win a Chery QQ car. Then he mentions that you can also walk away with a washing machine, Suzuki Quad and some other stuff! I would also Like to know how can they jump from J745 to J717 as that is the reference number that they just gave me. I agree wholy with everyone that this company should be investigated cause it is false advertising and I would like to know where they got my details from too as I have never entered a competition to win a Chery QQ what a [censored] story, I am however waiting for this event Co-ordinator GODFREY to give me a call on Monday as the draw apparently takes place between 12 and 4 in Midrand. They say nothing about having to sit through a Holiday presentation. Anymore nonsense from them and I will be calling the ombudsman to investigate this matter further!

I just recieved a call from Michael from Worl Connect, same story as everyone else. I have a one in six chance of winning a Cherry QQ car or some such. Someone will phone me tomorrow with directions and my reference number is J351 and the same telephone number [protected] and they are close to Vodaworld in midrand... Cant believe this is still going on after so many complaints... Mrs Boyens Vanderbijlpark

Got a call today...same story - I can collect the prize in Midrand at 9:00 or 1 p.m. on Saturday - My reference number is M86 - I am waiting for Godfrey to call me to-morrow to give me directions so I can also give him directions to Hell !

Im upset, i also got a call from some consultant using [protected]. He told me about a Chevy competion i supposedly entered. My ref number is J369, apparently didnt win the chevy but i have an option of choosing between a GPS, iPod and something else...He said the prize is in Midrand, but told him that im in Durban.
These guys are crooks, something has to be done.

I was a bit worried, thought I was suffering from some memory problems! I cannot remember ever entering a competition but what the heck, apparently it was run on 94.7 and I have entered their competitions before...so maybe this is the real thing... Thank you soooo much for posting these comments. They nearly made a fool out of me! Same guy Micheal, same celnr [protected], same reference number J351. Has this thing been going on for 2 YEARS? and no one is putting an end to it?

I am so glad I googled this, they phoned me on Saturday, 12 Feb with the same thing, but apparently my son entered according to them, but he is 22 and not old enough to claim his own prize and me and my husband must come along otherwise they won't let us in the gate. My ref no. J548 - what a bull... story. CAN'T THESE PEOPLE BE STOPPED, THEY CATCH A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE THIS.

Hi

I received a call from a person named Shela Thoka yesterday, from the number [protected]. Apparently I sent a sms on sometime last year to enter into a competition, and I could win one of five prizes (I could not remember doing any such thing - I could not even find ) I just don't remember entering any competition..
1. A Chery QQ Car
2. A GPS
3. A quad Bike
4. Ice maker
5. A holiday - to Kenya
I was given a reference number J548 - and I must come with my boyfriend. Thank goodness for my friends who warned me! PLEASE - you have been warned, if you want your money and time wasted, go ahead for the draw/prize giving...whatever...
Anyways, I'm just happy I didn't waste my time - thanks guys, and thank you GOOGLE :) !

I hope they find it in there hearts that we also need money as much as they do, but they must find other ways of making it. THEY ARE NOT FAIR>>>>>>