Every year, the Better Business Bureau highlights alerts the public to the most popular business scams within a calendar year. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) publishes a list of the top scams and rip-offs to protect consumers and other businesses. The mission of the BBB is to act as a mediator between customers and businesses as well to provide ethical guidelines to businesses. When consumers have valid complaints about their experiences with various companies/small businesses, a detailed list is comprised of those businesses. BBB Top Scams of 2009 was released in January 2010.
Here is a randomly ordered collection of the offending businesses:
1. Emails using phishing techniques and scamming emails about purchasing items to prevent H1N1 virus transmission.
2. Scams promising extra income with mystery or secret shopping jobs.
3. Websites erroneously stating that one could work at home from reputable companies such as Google.
4. Overpayment scams targeting individuals and small businesses that included wiring money to various places and using counterfeit checks.
5. Scams involving Lottery and Sweepstake participation. The victim is usually required to wire money to an undisclosed source but never receives the “prize winnings”.
6. Foreclosure and Mortgage Scams required families to pay upfront costs reduce personal debt and possibly foreclosure. Businesses kept the upfront costs and did not assist families as advertised.
7. Scams resulting from promises of Government Grants and/or Stimulus Funds mislead many consumers and small business owners of non available monies.
8. Automatic scam calls for automated telephone marketing calls for car warranties or credit card interest rate reductions.
9. Allured with a promise of employment, this scam bilked job seekers out of money by requiring fees to be paid before employment was offered, credit report checks required while unknowingly enrolling persons in an online credit monitoring program.
10. Nutritional supplements like acai fruit and other products offered with an alleged “Free” trial with enrollment. These scams cost consumers possibly hundreds of dollars per month.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) acts to protect consumers and to encourage solvent and ethical transactions between businesses and customers. All consumers should heed the rule of buyer beware before money exchanges. Consumers referencing the BBB’s Top Scams of 2009 should assist in making informed decisions before business transactions with these known companies. Consumers may read published reports or visit the BBB’s website www.bbb.org for further information.
