BBB Warning: Businesses, don’t fall for that scam | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wisconsin Better Business Bureau
May 6, 2019
Scams are a significant and growing problem for small businesses. One of the best ways that small businesses can protect themselves from scams is to stay informed about the common scams circulating and the different techniques used by scammers, and to report them.
One of the most common scams targeting businesses currently that BBB Serving Wisconsin has seen an increase of, is the business email compromise (“BEC”). Also referred to as the payment redirection scam, these are financial scams using the guise of authority to steal money.
We have seen this most recently with the utility scam (callers posing as a local utility company that threaten to turn off power and demand payment) and parish churches (imposters pose as vendors convince a work executive in the finance or accounting department via email to wire transfer money).“These scams are horrific and can devastate any business,” says Jim Temmer, BBB Serving Wisconsin CEO/president. “What we’ve been seeing is that companies of all sizes are targets, along with increasingly more victims and very large money losses. We all need to help spread the word to business owners and management teams to lessen the chance of more victims falling for these.”
Business Email Compromise (“BEC”). Company personnel with payment authority receive an email that impersonates the CEO or an outside business, asking for payment or noting the necessity to transfer money. Scammers trick the unsuspecting employees and executives and persuade them to wire large amounts of money.
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Check a company on bbb.org.  If you feel you have been scammed, file a complaint and report the scam to BBB’s Scam Tracker. Let others in your industry know of the scheme you’ve come across.
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