This email purports to be from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and goes on to inform you that a complaint has been filed against your company. You are then prompted to click a link or download an attachment to resolve the issue. The Huffington Post has reported on this scam here.
From: ::Better Business Bureau::
Subject: Re: BBB Case # 71608420
Body:
Dear Sirs,
The Better Business Bureau has got the above-referenced complaint from one of your associates in respect of their dealings with you.
The detailed information about the consumer’s concern is explained in enclosed file.
Please give attention to this question and notify us of your opinion.
Please click here ** Link removed ** to answer this complaint.
We look forward to your prompt reply.
Sincerely yours,
James Siena
Better Business Bureau
________________________________________
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277
Samples:
BBB Phishing Email
Better Business Bureau: BBB Case – Spoof
Identity Issue #PP-591-502-696-956
I received this scam 4x today. I did not click through. Notice they are from four different names.
Subject Lines:
Complaint from your customers
BBB Case # (INSERT EIGHT DIGIT NUMBER HERE)
First One:
Hello,
The Better Business Bureau has been filed the above-referenced complaint from one of your customers concerning their business relations with you.
The details of the consumer’s concern are included in enclosed file.
Please give attention to this question and let us know about your standpoint.
We kindly ask you to click here to answer this complaint.
We look forward to your urgent attention to this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Stacie Nieves
Better Business Bureau
________________________________________
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277
Second One:
Attn: Owner/Manager
The Better Business Bureau has been sent the above mentioned complaint from one of your customers regarding their business relations with you.
The details of the consumer’s concern are included in attached document.
Please give attention to this matter and inform us about your position.
We kindly ask you to click here to reply this complaint.
We look forward to your urgent attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
James Siena
Better Business Bureau
________________________________________
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277
Third One:
Dear Sirs,
The Better Business Bureau has been filed the above-referenced complaint from one of your clients in respect of their dealings with you.
The details of the consumer’s concern are contained in enclosed file.
Please give attention to this question and let us know about your point of view.
Please click here to respond this complaint.
We look forward to your urgent reply.
Sincerely yours,
Louis Gerald
Better Business Bureau
________________________________________
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277
Fourth One;
Hello,
The Better Business Bureau has been filed the above mentioned complaint from one of your customers on the subject of their dealings with you.
The details of the consumer’s concern are contained in enclosed document.
Please review this matter and notify us of your standpoint.
We encourage you to click here to respond this complaint.
We look forward to your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Paula Tap
Better Business Bureau
________________________________________
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277
received it this morning…
I received two (2) very similar email messages this morning; one from admin[@]bbb.org, and the other from risk[@]bbb.org. They were from two different individuals who supposedly represent the Better Business Bureau. I assumed they were phishing spoofs, and did not open the suggested link in either message. I instead trashed them and will delete them from the trash file to avoid any potential problems.
i received email today identical to the one above when i got ready to press the click here button my system warned me not to because it seemed like some kind of virus sent.
Received this, couldn’t click the link, so called this James Siena.
No way to leave a message.
Sucks to have nothing better to do, huh?
We received 2 of these e-mails – slightly different from each other. Of course we didn’t click the links.
This message came through earlier today to my WORK email.. what is interesting is that I recently did receive counterfeit merchandise via mail and I am persuing a claim with my credit card as well as my the FBI. Odd.
Received this message at 3:51 AM this morning.
Just go this scam today, Dec 8, 2011. It smelled dirty, so I looked at the link they gave: (I added “blahblahblah” to keep it from hurting anyone) When clicked, the address resolves to an address in Turkey.
So a French based site, “[sultan-avocat].fr”, jumps to a Turkish site, “[combijump].com”, with a PHP server on the other end.
- Definitely NOT taking you to the BBB headquarters in Virginia.
- I suspect this is cyberwarfare with more dangerous intentions than simple theft.
Received a similar one this morning… with grammar noticeably improved!
Attn: Owner/Manager
The Better Business Bureau has received the above mentioned complaint from one of your associates concerning their business relations with you.
The detailed information about the consumer’s concern is included in attached file.
Please review this problem and inform us about your point of view.
Please click [link] to answer this complaint.
We look forward to your urgent reply.
Sincerely yours,
Paula Tap
Better Business Bureau
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277
Yeah, I’ve got this e-mail a bunch of times. Was wondering what the hell it was until I noticed the address was in the states, given that I am based in Scotland and don’t have any customers outside the UK I figured it was a scam, glad to see I was right but I’ve been getting a lot of scam e-mails lately all claiming to be from the states. Will post about the other ones when another comes in.
Thank you for sharing Bullkelsae. We look forward to receiving your future reports.
The Huffington Post has reported on this email scam here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/better-business-bureau-scam-alert_n_1134012.html
Received versions (slightly altered) from a Stacy Nieves and Roland Dani.
Also received it at 4:09 this morning, in my work email. did not click on any attachment or links.
Got mine at 05:21 and did some research without opening the link and found this………. thanks for the heads up!
Received this about 3 hours ago in my spam, did not click on any attachment or links.
I got it this morning at 2:53 AM. I did not click anything. It was sent from admin[@]bbb.org
Got this email today from James Siena “at the Better Business Bureau.” Looked fishy cause I’m not a member of the BBB and I’ve never had a complaint. Don’t call. Don’t reply! Delete it!
I don’t know I’m kind of tempted to call just to give them shit. I get called all the time (in fact a lot of people in this area) from people claiming to be from windows support. My aunt is very new to pcs and was taken in by this scam, she’s not stupid just didn’t know that it was a scam. They took her card details etc and said they would sort it, she cancelled the card shortly after the call and didn’t lose anything but that’s the people they are preying on, So I like to work out the most offensive spiel that I can think of and unload on them(not exactly racist or full of swear words just offensive). It’s a great stress reliever! I’ve had them swearing like nothing on earth at me but still trying to con me. Sorry for the long reply but I have to add this, my cousin got the same call, when they asked him for his password to something he replied “#$^* Y.O.U.” then hung up. Basically have a little fun with them, not like they can report you.
Still you were right not to click the link. I haven’t done it myself but judging by previous comments it’s not legit.
Just noticed this scam email in my spamtrap. Tempting to try and call them for fun…. I also got the call recently from “Windows Support” saying they had errors coming from my computer. I played dumb for about 10mins forcing him to agonisingly talk an apparent idiot though accessing the event logs. When we finally filtered them to show just errors and warnings he said “Do you know what any of these mean sir?” I replied “Sure do, and most of them don’t represent a problem at all. I’ve just been stringing you along for a while. You’re a scammer and I’m glad to have been able to waste a bit of your time today.”
“Sir, this is not a scam….”
I cut him off laughing and said
“Go on then, talk me though accessing my PC and then convince me to part with my money…..”
He hung up.
lol
Had one of these calls (Brisbane, Australia) and strung the poor idiot along for about 40 minutes acting totally computer illiterate. First off though, I cut the internet connection. He finally hung up on me when I told him i was awake to his scam. Great fun.
Got it this morning.
Got this email but DID NOT open as I thought it was not legitimate. Threw it a way without opening,it or going to the link.
Got one from Stacie Nieves on the 9th
Received three of these on 8th December which were sent to my junk mail. Did not open any and wondered/suspected this was a scam.
I too received this email but didn’t click on the link in fear that damage may be done to my computer if I did.
I received three this morning. To really complicate matters, I am actually the person who manages the BBB relationship for my company. These look and “sound” very different from legitimate claim notices, but someone who doesn’t see two or three a month won’t know that.
Mine came from Louis Gerald, James Siena, and Roland Dani using the addresses risk_manager[@]bbb.org, support[@]bbb.org, and info[@]bbb.org. The Better Business Bureau is a Dot Org, but their email domain is not bbb.org.
I also received this.
I also received one from “Stacie Nieves” today. I did check on the link – because that’s what I do – It’s a dead link.
I have received 4 letters with similar language from Satcie Nieves, Anita Emil and etc. So have my colleauges, including a very senior high-level officer. Please do something about it.
Recieved this a.m. @ 9:37, case number slightly different, from name different. It was caught in our spam filter and I deleted it. Wonder what the real BBB is doing about it?
Same Email received. Thought this was dodgy! Thanks for everyone else showing this!
Received one today from Arnold Melendez. Computer did nto download it as it has “malicious content”.
I received this email this morning. I wanted to see where the link took me–it redirected to a page that wanted me to download some add on–which I did not do and closed out the page.
received email from BBB [alerts@bbb.org]
Received this email today on Dec. 20, 2011. Thanks to this site, I have deleted it.
I also received one Case ID 41723319. Leads to malicious download.
I attempted to open the attached file after opening the item in the email but my computer warned that this was a severe threat to my computer. Please help business owners protect the privacy information of people we serve.
Received it this morning, 12/20/2011. Mine reads essentially the same, with “Case # 70120108″.
I rec’d this @ 5:01am today……
I’ve just started receiving these a couple of weeks ago or so. One day I got about four! I’ve never clicked on the link but I am wondering what they are asking for if you do click on the link. Anyone know?
I received this email today. Once I clicked on the link to review the report, the page would never load. I tried several times, but only receive errors when trying to access the link.
Just received a letter from them got curious and opened the site and as I figured it was nothing.So I immediately pressed scam.I don’t have any clients.Whatare these people stupid or what,I can spot a scam a mile away.
I got this this morning. You can always tell if they are a scam by the “to” field. The other email address will be similar to your email address and there will be a ton of them.
Have a great Holiday everyone!
Got this today. Didn’t click on the “attached report”. I put Stacie Nieves
in search and found this page. Thanks all. Don’t do it. Glad I didn’t. Linda
Received today
This is SO lame. Do they think we’re THAT stupid?
Received this twice today – two different senders. Scary part is that it seemingly comes from bbb.org’s servers according to the message headers.
I have received one today.
Three of these today. Quite obviously a scam, as not only do I not have customers who would be likely to make complaints against me, I don’t even have a job. It’s a shame some people have nothing better to do with their time.
Same here. Have received many…. Like Rebecca said, It’s a shame ppl do not have anything better to do.
I received this email. 1/19/2012
I received an e-mail from “BBB”. Googled it for scam info. Came up with your web site in no. 1 position. Signed up with you straight away.
Thank you Scamtrends
Pioneer-12
I got this SPAM message.
Got two of these today, and we are an ecommerce business…should have known something was fishy when they included no name in the email.
I got one to today 1/23/2012 and I was suspicious about it, my wife said to open it the file where they said is the content to view (I believe was not wise but, we did it),..it opened in a new window but, it showed as an error. I went to bed and I couldn’t sleep thinking of that stupid e-mail so, I came to look to see if I can find something that will give a respond to my concern and here is the answer – THAT IS A SCAM. I hope nothing will affect my files/my lap top bec. we opened that FILE (I should it now not to). I turned it off.
I have now received 5 of these in the past week… all with different complaint numbers, Beware! If you call the 703 # at the bottom of the email, it is answered as the Better Business Bureau, but their website note no office in Arlington, VA. I forwarded the email to the REAL Better Business Bureau and haven’t heard back. Guess they aren’t as concerned about consumers as they would have us believe.
Emails that are used for Phishing, malicious content, scams, or virus’s go to the Federal Trade commission at “spam” ,
I send mine all there. They seem to diminish over time and eventually go away. Only to be replaced with something else………………..
I got the same phishing email.
Just forgot to mention in the above comment …
The funny part of this above email was that: I got three email to the same email account in one day. However, each of the three supposedly BBB complaint had different Case ID numbers.
What a shame!
I’m getting 3 or 4 everyday. I can’t block them! I do business with BBB. I can’t block the fakes without blocking the legitimate BBB email.
Why can’t these people and businesses be treated as criminal thugs and arrested?
Relieved and ticked at the same time! I received this a few days ago.
I received 3 of these so far in the last 2 days.
Recived this at work today, it had my supervisors e-mail in it also. As if they cc it to her or she was involved. I work for the county office.
We are a national coatings company with an outstanding record. I knew this was a scam right off the bat, as we’ve never had a complaint.
I contacted the sender’s web site at AICPA.COM about the possibility that someone was using their site to send junk. I received an automated reply that they would get back to me within 48 hours.
I got a scam email from BBB it says, but I knew it was a scam since I have no business so therefore no customers. I went to the real website for “BBB” in Arlington, VA and forwarded the email as directed to phishing[@]council.bbb.org. I have had several lately. I will not open them or click on any link. Probably a virus in the making.
Received similar e-mail Monday, Feb 27, 2012 @ 7:58 am. I only waited a moment then closed out. Was not sure of the validity and noticed the errors in grammar and punctuation. I guess their stupidity is 1 advantage in our favor.
How did this get through the filters?:
I received this today.
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Received one of these versions on 2/27/12.
I received this scam this morning. It did not send me to a link rather than to a file that I could not open. Luckily on my Mac computer did not allow.
I have received mails like the above in the past week several times.
I received this email today (5/5/12)
I received this email yesterday and it totally blew up my laptop. Be warned
We recieved an email like this coming from info[@]bbb.org, with a Zip file attachment, inside the zip file is a Application, titled BBB Abuse, the file itself passes all virus scan tests, but if one installed the application i’m sure it will install some unwanted stuff.
This e-mail is still circulating, with a zip file. One of our managing partners received this e-mail today, and called our tech guy right away. He told her to delete it, as any e-mail coming with a zip file attached is, in all likelihood, some sort of spyware.
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I also receive the same email as described below on 9/8/ 2012 from a Christer Bleasdille, a Dispute Counselor with the BBB about a complaint. I did not click on the link. I went to the BBB website and ended up here where my thoughts about this being a scam were confirmed.
It’s still going round. Just arrived in my inbox half an hour ago. Strange that I’m not a company but my company is supposed to be operating a cheque/money order scam. Such hypocrisy!! Strangely, the email sender is named Better Business Bureaus but the mail server is something completely different and the link goes somewhere else again. Needless to say the email died the death of a thousand deletes.
I got one today in my personal email, not even in the same domain as my business email.
I reaslised it was a scan immediatly for 3 main reasons:
1) it was in my spam folder :)
2) it spelled cheque incorrectly: check
3) it was for Alrlington VA, and i’m down under in Australia
Not a difficult spot
I have gotten two of these now sending to spam folder lets see if that helps!