You may have encountered a fake invoice if you are running a small business, or keeping books for one. Phony bills have long been a beloved and effective trick of scammers. Recently, BBB Scam Tracker has gotten multiple reports of a new version of this scam, where con artists pretend to be contacting you as part of the Geek Squad, which is owned by Best Buy or through PayPal.

How the scam works:

 After receiving an invoice from Geek Squad, it says you’ll be charged hundreds of dollars for an annual subscription that is about to auto-renew. The email may include a PDF version of the invoice and a number for you to call if you want to cancel the subscription. Panicked and sure you never authorized this subscription; you call the number. A ‘customer service agent’ answers and pretends to assist you with the cancellation. They may offer you a refund or ask you to confirm your bank account information so they can cancel the subscription.

If you give them that sensitive information, they’ll likely gain access to your account and can withdraw money without your consent. Aside from sham phone calls, downloading PDFs or clicking links in the email could download malware onto your computer and put you at risk of identity theft.

Fake Geek Squad invoices aren’t the only versions of this scam to keep an eye out for. A new iteration looks like a vendor requesting payment via PayPal. Similar to the Geek Squad version, the message urges you to call ‘customer service’ if your payment was not authorized, or you wish to cancel the charge.

How to avoid fake invoice scams:

•  Be wary of unsolicited emails, especially if you don’t remember doing business with the company they claim to come from. Even if you do business with a company, be careful if you receive an email you didn’t ask for or authorize. Scammers love to impersonate companies that are well-known and trusted by consumers.
• Know how invoices will be delivered. If you sign up for a service or subscription, ask how the company will deliver its invoices. That way, you won’t be fooled if scammers send you a copycat invoice through a different channel.

BBB Accredited Businesses promise to adhere to BBB’s Standards for Trust, so look for the BBB Accredited Business Seal. It’s the Sign of a Better Business. 

•  Train your staff to spot a fake invoice. As a small business owner, you may not personally look at every invoice from your accounts department. Ensure your employees know how to differentiate a real invoice from a scam.
• Don’t give in to scare tactics. Scammers will use a sense of urgency to get you to give up sensitive information or make payments without thinking. If someone says you’ll lose hundreds of dollars if you don’t act now, don’t be easily intimidated. Always do proper research before agreeing to any transactions– especially unexpected ones.
• Have questions about a Geek Squad message? Reach out to Best Buy.Customers can call 1-888-BESTBUY to confirm whether a suspicious email is real. Also, check out com/StopFraud for more resources to help spot cybercrime, fraud and tech support scams.

For more information:

Learn other ways to protect your business from scams and maintain a good reputation in your community by visiting BBB.org/smallbusiness and bbb.org/avoidscams. If you spot a scam, report it at BBB Scam Tracker. Your reports can help other small business owners learn more about common scam tactics. If you’re ready to take the leap, learn how to become a BBB Accredited Business.

(UPDATE: Authorities say both teens have been located and are safe)

(Carroll, Iowa) – The Police Department in Carroll is asking for assistance in locating two missing juveniles. Authorities says Aubrey Prichard is a 15-year-old female with blond hair and blue eyes. She is approximately 5’4″ tall weighing 105 pounds. Jordan Hilleshiem is a 15-year-old male with blonde hair and blue eyes. He is about 5’9″ tall weighing 160 pounds.

Jordan was last seen wearing shorts and a white sweatshirt. Both were last seen in Carroll on April 4, 2023, around 1:00 pm. Both juveniles are suspected to be together with an unknown direction of travel. If you know their location or see them, please call the police at 712-792-3536.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Gronewold, Bell, Kyhnn & Co. P.C. CPAs have released an audit report on Cass County, Iowa. The County had local tax revenue of $34,404,968 for the year ended June 30, 2022, which included $3,052,548 in tax credits from the state. The County forwarded $26,076,100 of the local tax revenue to the townships, school districts, cities and other taxing bodies in the County.

The County retained $8,328,868 of the local tax revenue to finance County operations, a .5 percent increase from the prior year. Other revenues included $5,475,111 from the state, including indirect federal funding of $1,067,258, charges for service of $372,870, tax increment financing of $693,994, local option sales tax of $991,382, and $133,539 for the use of money and property.

Expenditures for County operations totaled $16,473,994, an 11.5 percent increase from the prior year. Expenses included $5,679,596 for roads and transportation, $450,980 for mental health, $3,199,539 for public safety and legal services, $515,772 for county environment and education, $751,706 for debt service, $2,331,532 for capital projects, and $1,653,051 for administrative services.

A copy of the audit report is available for review in the office of the Auditor of State and the County Auditor’s office.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests: At around 1-a.m. today (Wednesday), 45-year-old Shannon Don Spangler, of Lincoln, NE., was arrested at the Lancaster County, NE. Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear. His bond was set at $10,000. And, Monday evening, 57-year-old David Duane Berry, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, following a traffic stop on I-29 at mile marker 31. ($2,000 bond)

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Adair County, today (Wednesday), took action on a handful of matters. The Board acknowledged receipt of the 2022 SICOG (Southern Iowa Council of Governments) Annual Report. And, they approved a 10-cent per hour longevity wage increase for Dana Hoakison, a 10-year employee of the Adair County Sheriff’s office.

The Board then heard from Val Cameron w/ISU Extension & Outreach, with regard to a Child Abuse Prevention Month Proclamation and placing of signs and pinwheels in the Courtyard. The Supervisors approved placement of the pinwheels as requested.

Pinwheels for Child Abuse Prevention (File Photo)

The Board received a Quarterly report from Adair County Attorney Melissa Larson, who said she’s been keeping busy with an increasing caseload.

County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented to the Adair County Supervisors Resolutions for the Local Option Sales Tax and Bridge ratings. The Board approved both with Board Chair Steve Shelley signing-off on the paperwork. The Supervisors also approved a Contract and Performance Bond with Gus Construction for the N-25 Grand River Culvert Project.

And, Kauffman updated the Board with a weekly report on the Secondary Roads Department Maintenance and Activities.

(Radio Iowa) – A survey team from the National Weather Service is looking over the damage from a tornado that touched down in south-central Iowa last (Tuesday) night near Knoxville and Pleasantville. Meteorologist Donna Dubberke, at the Weather Service office in metro Des Moines, says there were multiple reports of funnel clouds and tornadoes in Marion and Warren counties, but it appears it was a single twister that reached the ground. “At this point, we think it’s just one,” Dubberke says. “Once we get out, today is a lot about piecing all those puzzle pieces together to see exactly how it developed and from the video and what we’ve seen, it looks like it was one.”

There are dozens of reports of hail during last night’s storm from locations scattered across a wide section of Iowa, damaging the siding and roofs of houses, smashing windows and ruining vehicles. “Pretty much diagonally, from the southwest corner of the state up to the northeast, there were hail reports,” Dubberke says. “Some of the larger hail reports were up to three inches in diameter which is very large, so baseball size and larger. The Osceola area had quite a bit, Davenport had some reports of that as well.” The Quad Cities reported peak wind gusts of 90 miles an hour, straight-line winds which broke off tree limbs and caused power outages. Despite the wreckage, last night’s storms were not as severe as last Friday’s barrage.

Funnel cloud near Melcher Dallas. Photo by Tim Johnson, submitted to the National Weather Service.

“With widespread areas certainly, for the hail and a lot of several rounds of storms,” she says, “so it was longer-lasting in some ways but did not have quite the intensity that the one on Friday had.” That previous storm spun off at least 16 tornadoes and left 18 Iowa counties declared disaster areas, with at least nine people injured. Dubberke says the storms should be gone for a while now and calmer, springtime weather is ahead. “The rest of this week and into the weekend, it looks nice, a warming trend,” Dubberke says. “Today, it’ll be the coldest day, then warming a little bit each day, and tomorrow and Friday, we should have some nice sunshine. Next chance of rain is on Sunday and as of right now, it doesn’t look all that impactful.”

Temperatures through the weekend are forecast to warm into the 60s and 70s, with 80s likely next week.

RED OAK, IOWA – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have announced that their offices will hold joint United States Service Academy Virtual Informational Nights on Monday, May 1 and Tuesday, May 2, for Iowa students interested in applying to one of our nation’s military academies. Every year, Ernst and Grassley each nominate 10 students to the academies.

Academy representatives will be available to answer any questions about the application and nomination process. The five academies are the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and U.S. Air Force Academy.

Attendees must RSVP to receive meeting information. To contact Senator Ernst’s office, please email Brenda_Safranski@ernst.senate.gov or call (515) 284-4272. To contact Senator Grassley’s office, please email academy_nominations@grassley.senate.gov or call (515) 288-1145. Click here to view the Academy Nomination application.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic School District School Business Official (SBO)/School Board Secretary Sarah Sheeder has announced her resignation. She submitted her resignation on Monday. Sheeder said she has accepted a position at AC/GC schools, as a shared School Business Official.  Her contract was approved by the Guthrie Center Board of Directors Tuesday night. Her resignation letter is shown below. Sheeder is the second person in the ACSD Administration to resign. Superintendent Steve Barber has announced his resignation, effective at the end of the current school year.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A law enforcement officer suffered minor injuries during a residential structure fire Tuesday evening, in Red Oak. Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce the blaze at 1903 200^th Street was reported at around 6:49-p.m.

The first crews at the scene reported a heavy fire coming from the north side of the residence, with the blaze extending to the first floor. Firefighters conducted defensive exterior ground operations before moving inside the structure to suppress the fire. Three adults and one child evacuated the home without injury.

The law enforcement officer was injured while assisting with a hose hook-up to the fire hydrant. The officer was treated and released from the hospital.

Photo courtesy the Red Oak Fire Dept.

Chief Bruce said the fire begin with wind driven embers from a fire pit located about 10 yards to the north of the residence. Those embers ignited the vegetation along a fence line, and started the northwest portion of the first floor on fire. The blaze eventually breached the first-floor windows, and entered the residence. The home sustained extensive fire, smoke, and water damage.

Mutual aid was requested from the Stanton and Elliott fire departments. Additional entities at the scene included Essex Rescue, Officers with the Red Oak Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies, MidAmerican Utilities, and the American Red Cross. Montgomery County Communications was also a part of the emergency response.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Community School District today (Wednesday) announced Superintendent Steve Barber has made the decision to resign as superintendent from the Atlantic Community School District effective June 30, 2023. The Board of Education said in their statement that they “would like to thank Mr. Barber for his years of service and commitment to the District. He has been a dedicated and conscientious leader who was committed to seeking improvement in all aspects of District operations and student achievement.

We wish Mr. Barber well in his future endeavors as we are already considering the next steps in the process of selecting our next superintendent. During this transition, we will seek community input and will keep our staff and the public updated throughout the process.”

No reason was given for Mr. Barber’s decision to resign.