If you receive a phone call claiming that you’ve won $2.5 million and a Mercedes Benz from a “representative” of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) be wary and hang up!
The BBB put out a warning today “cautioning businesses and consumers about a website and phone calls that are purporting to be from BBB about sweepstakes’ winnings. This is a scam – BBB is not conducting a sweepstake.
A complaint filed by a Virginia consumer with BBB Richmond first identified the scam. The calls appear to come from a fake BBB employee claiming that the customer has won $2.5 million and a Mercedes Benz. The representative directs customers to better-businessbureau.org, which contains misinformation and fraudulent claims. BBB is urging consumers not to visit this site. The official BBB website is www.bbb.org.
Should you receive such a call, please disregard its message, and report any information received to BBB’s Scam Portal. BBB lawyers are working to find out who is behind this and will take all appropriate action to protect its trademark” – Source.
If you visit the site that the fraudster names off you will obviously not only find a fake BBB site but a site claiming to the the “American Sweepstakes Association Home Page” that “showcases” winners of these sweepstakes (with what appears to be excellent stock photos of people I might add).
What I find terribly confusing is the note at the top of the page that reads in all caps: PLEASE NOTE: IF YOUR RECEIVING CALLS, AND YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THE LIST DON’T BOTHER TO DO ANY BUSINESS UNTIL YOU RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. CALL THE NUMBERS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. DON’T LET ANYONE TAKE YOU FOR A FOOL, THE NUMBERS ON THE WEBSITE ARE THERE FOR A PURPOSE SO CALL THEM IF YOUR NAME ISN’T THERE.
A side note to this site: 1) stop using all caps and 2) when using the phrase “you are” in an abbreviated manner please use the correct term of “you’re” not “your” – this really bothers me.
Be cautious readers and quite frankly. don’t let anyone take you for a fool!
If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.
- How to Make a Clean Financial Break at Divorce - February 12, 2021
- A Day In the Life of A Debt Collector - January 4, 2016
- Arkansas DEA Extortion Scam Alert! - January 27, 2012
MY WIFE IS BEING HARRESSED BY SOMEONE POSING AS PROCTOR AND GAMBLE BUT THEY ARE OFFERING $5.5 MILLION AND OF COURCE THE NEW MERCEDES
Well at least it’s easy to spot as a scam.