Better Business Breaking News Alerts! Scams To Watch Out For

BBB BREAKING NEWS ALERT

Bogus Emails and Robocalls Explode!

IMPORTANT!: Starting at 8:00 EST this morning, scammers sent a wave of bogus emails to business owners and consumers all over North America. These emails CLAIM TO BE FROM BBB "Accreditation Services" and ask your company to open an attached SBQ (Standard Business Questionnaire) form to answer questions. This attachment, however, delivers malware to the user's computer, and should NOT be opened. Several local firms have already reported receiving it. If your company does, forward it to phishing@council.bbb.org. We are working with the authorities to have it shut down as fast as possible. We have no idea where they come from.

NEXT: BBBs around the country are swamped with complaints regarding robocalls - recorded messages calling your cell or home phone. The companies that use these practices are almost always violating Federal laws, and they often cheat consumers out of thousands of dollars.

Biggest scam call, as we have warned many times, is the call from the "IRS" notifying you that you owe money on back taxes. Consumers who "push 1" for details are connected with an "IRS Agent" who tells them that a police car is "30 minutes away" and they will be arrested if they don't send money immediately, using a "green dot" card or Western Union. Despite all our warnings, many consumers are terrorized by these crooks and send money. We try to explain that the IRS NEVER calls taxpayers, they always notify by mail. Also IRS gives consumers full details on its findings and provides the opportunity to appeal the assessment. The robocalls scammers do none of this. Many are calling from India.

"Microsoft calling" is often a robocall. "We've been monitoring your computer and it is running slow because a a virus. We can get into your machine and clean it out." Consumers get these calls at home and are tricked into thinking that Microsoft or another computer service is actually monitoring their system. Nonsense! These scammers often install viruses in victim's computers or steal information they can use to withdraw money from bank accounts or steal identities.

"This is Rachel from Cardholder Services" is perhaps the largest scam robocall in the world. Billions of consumers suffer through these annoying (and often illegal) messages, which are such a problem that the Federal Trade Commission runs a "Zapping Rachel" campaign. Several criminal firms using the Rachel recording have already been prosecuted, but the calls persist.

"John from Political Opinions of America," was a robocall which claimed you had been "carefully selected" to participate in a 30-second research survey, after which you could "press one" to receive a two-day cruise to the Bahamas. This violated the Federal Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by using robocalls to sell cruise vacations. Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc. is one of the firms fined for the practice.

Be Aware: Robocalls to cell phones are a violation of Federal law. The companies using robocalls often ignore the "Do Not Call" list, also a violation. And we warn that, if the message says, "Press I to talk to us, press 2 to stop these calls", DO NOT PRESS 2! The scammers will be alerted to your phone and will sell your number to all the others. The best tip we can give on robocalls is to not answer or hang up immediately.

FINALLY: A new racket is the Realtor Escrow Scam, a warning for home buyers and their agents about a phony escrow request that could cost thousands of dollars. Scambusters.org reports one victim almost lost $48,000 before the scam was spotted at the last minute. 

It's a simple and convincing trick. The scammer identifies buyers who are near to closing on a deal and sends them an email purporting to come from their agent or broker. It requests money to be wired to an escrow account, which, of course, is phony and untraceable. To make the request seem legitimate, the email may include documentation including a bogus "closing statement." Several realtors have reported this scam and some victims have lost substantial sums of money. It's easy to fall for, especially if buyer and agent have already been communicating via email.

As we (and Scambusters.org) frequently warn, never assume that the sender of an email is the person it seems to come from. Always check independently, by phone, with your agent that the request is legitimate. Even then, check out the escrow company's validity and reputation online.

Better Business Bureau
219 N. McDonel St.
Lima, OH
(419) 227-8012