Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - Better Business Bureau is warning businesses to beware of a new malicious e-mail that pretends to be from BBB about a complaint filed against the company. The e-mail first came to BBB’s attention on November 21, 2011.
The BBB has been flooded by calls from local businesses and many across the US have reported receiving a suspicious e-mail from the address alert@bbb.org or services@bbb.org with the subject line “BBB Complaint Case #” followed by a nine-digit number. Both BBB Accredited and non-accredited businesses have been targeted.
The body of the e-mail claims that the company did not respond to a complaint filed by a consumer and includes a link to a page at www.bbb.org where the business can supposedly review the complaint.
BBB is NOT sending this Email!
If you are receiving this email, do nothing! This is a scam.
Because the message is fraudulent, BBB advises any business that receives this e-mail to take the following steps:
- Do not click on any links or reply to the message,
- Forward the message to phishing@council.bbb.org,
- Completely delete the message from your inbox, and
- Run a full virus scan on your computer if you did click on any links.
If you receive an e-mail from Better Business Bureau about a complaint filed against your business and need assistance in determining whether or not it is legitimate, contact your local BBB directly at www.canton.bbb.org or 800-362-0494.
For more advice on how to protect your business from malicious online attacks and data breaches visit www.bbb.org/data-security/
A copy of the actual e-mail follows:
From: alert@bbb.org [mailto:alert@bbb.org]
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 6:26 AM
To: Betty Graham
Subject: Complaint # 22101311
Importance: High
The Better Business Bureau has received the above-referenced complaint from one of your customers regarding their dealings with you.
The details of the consumer's concern are included on the reverse.
Please review this matter and advise us of your position.
As a neutral third party, the Better Business Bureau can help to resolve the matter. Often complaints are a result of misunderstandings a company wants to know about and correct.
We encourage you to use our ONLINE COMPLAINT system to respond this complaint.
The following URL (website address) below will take you directly to this complaint and you will be able to enter your response directly on our website:
http://www.bbb.org
