The Better Business Bureau has issued an alert to small businesses and consumers about a new phishing scam that uses the “BBB” name to convince recipients of its authenticity.

The email uses the name “BBB” and an email address of operations@bbb.org. The email cites a complaint case number and a hyperlink where recipients of the email are told to download documents relating to the complaint. This actually downloads an executable file that is believed to be a form of computer virus.

A firm in Kennesaw, GA had its computer system hacked and is generating thousands of these counterfeit messages purporting to be from the BBB.

All recipients are advised that any e-mail from the operations@bbb.org address is not coming from any BBB and should be considered counterfeit. The BBB strongly encourages recipients of any such message to delete the message immediately without clicking on the “DOCUMENTS FOR CASE” links.

The phishing e-mail return address of operations@bbb.org does not exist and is being “spoofed.” Spoofing occurs when an e-mail address is altered to appear as if the message originated from a legitimate source. This is a common practice for both spam e-mail and phishing operations.

Go to the Better Business Bureau website for an example of the scam email.

Better Business Bureau

The Federal Trade Commission has released its annual report on fraud complaints filed by consumers. As expected, identity theft tops the list at 36% of all complaints filed. But the actual number of instances of identity theft could be much higher, as for every reported instance and complaint, there may be a dozen others who have been victimized.

Here’s the top 5 listed complaints from the FTC’s Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data report.

1 Identity Theft - 246,035 - 36%
2 Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales - 46,995 - 7%
3 Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries - 45,587 - 7%
4 Internet Services and Computer - 41,243 - 6%
5 Internet Auctions - 32,832 - 5%

See the full list at The FTC website.

The savvy internet user keeps abreast of the news when it comes to email and internet scams and schemes. Being wary and informed is the best way to avoid identity theft, fraud and financial loss. As consumers become aware of the old scams, the thieves concoct new ones. Often the emails purport to be from banks and government agencies.

These two scams reported on the FBI website stretch the imagination:

The first threatens the life of the recipient. The sender claims to be a hit-man who was hired to kill the email recipient but in exchange for several thousand dollars will call off the killing. The sender of the email threatens to carry out the killing immediately if the recipient goes to the police and demands a quick response and a telephone number to be provided. The FBI warns against responding to this email in any way or providing any personal information.

The second is a twist on the first but purports to come from the FBI in London. The email states that an individual was recently arrested for several murders in the US and the UK and that information was found on the suspect identifying the email recipient as the next name on his hit list. It further states that the email recipient should respond to help in their investigation. This email is a scam and does not originate with the FBI.

For more information on these email scams and how to report them, visit the FBI website.