Notice of "Official" Complaint May be a Ruse

Better Business Bureau CT | 11 Jun 2008

The F.B.I. and Better Business Bureau are warning business owners they may be targeted with phony “complaints” filed against them or their company by what looks like the U.S. Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration or Better Business Bureau.

Law enforcement authorities say the would-be complaints arrive in the form of e-mail, addressing recipients by name and including some personal information to make the complaint appear legitimate.

Like similar schemes, the F.B.I says the scammers will ask for more personal information and create a false sense of urgency to call a telephone number or click on a link within the e-mail which may open a potentially dangerous attachment.

These phony e-mails urge the recipient to click on a hyperlink to read the “complaint,” but authorities say if you do, the hyperlink may download virus software into your computer. The virus hides in a screen saver file in your PC where most anti-virus software will miss it during a scan.

The virus monitors user names and passwords, online activity, and records other password—related information.

In the meantime, the Better Business Bureau name continues to be used in similar so-called phishing scams. Fraudulent e-mails containing malicious links and viruses have been sent to businesses and consumers around the country claiming to contain information on a complaint filed with Better Business Bureau.

Recipients may receive a fraudulent message from any of the following addresses: operations@bbb.org, idtheft@bbb.org, complaints@bbb.org, consumercomplaints@bbb.org, idtheft@bbb.org, onlineidentitytheft@euro-viza.com, seatac@bbb.org, complains-serv@bbb.org, compl-srv@bbb.org, complntscentercase@bbb.org and fraud@bbb.org.

One other fraudulent e-mail address is diputes@la.bbb.org. Note the misspelling of "disputes." The message is replete with grammatical and spelling errors.

Connecticut BBB President Paulette Hotton emphasizes, “None of the BBB's computer or e-mail systems is involved in this hoax. BBB and government authorities are working together to stop these continued attacks. Better Business Bureau does not notify companies of complaints by e-mail containing a hyperlink.”

The F.B.I. and Connecticut Better Business Bureau both underscore the dangers of these suspect e-mails, and recommend the following:

1) Beware of any e-mail from an unknown sender.
2) Never click on an attachment or hyperlink in any e-mail from someone you do not know, especially in unsolicited e-mail.
3) If you have received a scam e-mail as described above, notify law enforcement officials by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

When in doubt, you may also check out the reliability of a company which may be listed in such an e-mail by visiting www.bbb.org.

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