Don’t take the bait in this phishing scam

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning businesses to be aware of a new email scam involving con artists using the agency’s name to gather banking and financial information.

“Scammers are sending emails that appear to come from the Better Business Bureau,” said a post from the agency’s website. “They’ll tell you that a complaint has been registered against your business, or that a customer has submitted a review of your business. The email will ask you to download and complete an attached form, or it will ask you to click on a link to view and respond to the consumer posting.”

The attached form is actually an executable file that will drop a virus onto an email system. Users can then expect to see pop-up messages claiming their computer is infected with viruses. The messages may even offer to have the system cleaned for a fee.

“The links in the bogus email are dangerous, as well,” the agency added. “They look like a link to a BBB page, but the code behind the link will actually route your browser to a website where malware is written in such a way that it usually passes by anti-virus programs undetected. Once the malware is in place, the scammer can sniff for your banking information and can use your system to send more scam emails out to your contacts under your name.”

The BBB says any emails appearing to come from them with the subject of “customer communication” should be deleted. Businesses can also check with their local BBB to confirm the legitimacy of the email. Never click on an email link or download an attachment unless it has been confirmed from the BBB.

Businesses that receive these email(s) can also forward them to [email protected].