Sept. 11, 2017—The Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Nebraska, South Dakota, The Kansas Plains and Southwest Iowa is warning business owners and consumers that scammers are using the BBB name and logo to fraudulently claim companies are “violating the Fair Labor Standards Act,” the “Safety and Health Act,” and other ominous sounding notices.

These emails are fake!!! They are designed to get the recipient to click on a link, which may be used to download malware that can infect the recipient’s computer, steal passwords, or hack a company’s records.

If you get an email that claims it is from BBB:

1. Do NOT click on any links or attachments.

2. Read the email carefully for signs that it may be fake (for example, misspellings, grammatical errors, generic greetings such as “Dear member” instead of a name, etc.).

3. Be wary of urgent instructions to take specified action such as “Click on the link or your account will be closed.”

4. Hover your mouse over links without clicking to see if the address is truly from bbb.org. The URL in the text should match the URL that your mouse detects. If the two do not match, it is most likely a scam.

5. Send a copy of the email to phishing@council.bbb.org (Note: This address is only for scams that use the BBB name or logo)

6. Delete the email from your computer completely (be sure to empty your “trash can” or “recycling bin,” as well).

7. Run anti-virus software updates frequently and do a full system scan.

8. Keep a close eye on your bank statements for any unexpected or unexplained transactions.

9. If you have clicked on any of the links within the email, immediately change your email and network passwords AND notify your local IT provider for next steps and actions.

If you have a business and are not certain whether the complaint is legitimate, contact your local BBB at bbbinc.org or 800-649-6814. BBB is working with law enforcement as well as a private deactivation firm to shut down as many criminal websites as possible. To date, we have shut down well over 100 sites.

For more information on data security for your business go to bbb.org/cybersecurity.