BBB Warns Local Businesses of a New Scam

The scammers are at it again and this time they are targeting local businesses across Acadiana.

According to the Better Business Bureau of Acadiana, they have received numerous reports of local businesses being targeted in a new scam. This new scam uses malware to access companies’ emails and steal money from business employees.

Once the scammers gain access to the company records they can use that opportunity to pretend to be a vendor or employee of the company and request money or change the account information altogether in the system.

“One of the managers was contacted by a scammer pretending to be an employee wanting to change the payroll direct deposit account and trying to steal that employee’s funds. In some instances, businesses have their email passwords may be compromised and a scammer is able to go in and actually access their bank account. In this instance, they just created a fake email and pretended to be an employee but still just as risky,” said Chris Babin of the BBB.

Thankfully this business that Chris Babin is speaking of caught on to what was happening and played along with the scammer long enough to realize what was happening and reported it to the Better Business Bureau.

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Here are some ways to spot this scam:

• Be suspicious of change. An email request asking for a wire transfer to an unfamiliar address is a red flag.
• Be wary of requests for confidentiality or pressure to act quickly.
• Pay close attention to the email address. Some scammers only change one or two letters.

If you are looking to see the scams in your area or report a scam you can visit the Better Business Bureau's website.