Better Business Bureau Warns About Scam Emails

WALLINGFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Businesses in Connecticut and nationwide are being warned to guard against a spam email that falsely claims to be from the Better Business Bureau.

Howard Schwartz, the Executive Communications Director of the Connecticut division of the organization, tells 1010 WINS the scammers are illegally using the BBB's name and logo in the emails which falsely tell the business owner that someone has lodged a complaint against them.

BBB officials said Wednesday they do not send emails of that type to businesses or consumers.

Links directing the readers to view information on the alleged complaint may "phish" for information or expose the computer to viruses.

"If you get a url in an email, it's important to hover your mouse over that to ensure that you're not being redirected to a malicious site," Howard Schwartz said. "In this case, when you receive a spam e-mail there's always a danger that if you click on a hyperlink it can take you to a site that may have malware that can download into your computer."

Schwartz said the return email addresses in this particular scam include service@bbb.org or alert@bbb.org.

The Better Business Bureau's legal department is reviewing the emails and will take action if they can determine who illegally used the trademarked name and logo for the scam.

"This is not the first kind of scam involving the name of the Better Business Bureau," Schwartz said. "In the past, there were notices that went out saying there were negative reviews about businesses. These were received by businesses also across the country. What scammers were doing is trying to get people to click on malicious hyperlinks."

To prevent falling victim to the scam, do not click on any links, open any attachments or reply to the email. Instead, Schwartz said the email should be deleted from the computer.

"If you have clicked on the links or opened the attachments you should delete it and then run a virus scan," Schwartz said.

Have you fallen victim to such a scam? Let us know below...

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