Better Business Bureau is alerting business owners to scam emails pretending to come from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and involving BBB.
According to their website, D&B is a leading source of commercial information on businesses.
The email, which provides a phony complaint identification number, claims a customer filed a complaint against the local business with D&B, has prompted calls from several local businesses.
The email goes on to say that if the customer does not respond, the complaint will become part of the business’ permanent record with BBB, implying the reputation of the company will be harmed.
The email then asks for the email recipient to click on a link to respond to the complaint, but the email installs malware on the user’s computer, opening the door to financial loss and identity theft.
The spammers’ goal is to get as many email recipients as possible to click on the link within the email which redirects to a website infected with malware. If you clicked on the link within these emails, your computer is likely to be infected. The criminals then use that malware to steal sensitive personal information, transfer money out of bank accounts or obtain additional email addresses.
If anyone receives this email, they are advised to immediately delete the email without clicking on any links contained within.
The BBB advises any business that receives this e-mail to take the following steps:
- Again, do not click on any links or reply to the message. Clicking on anything within the email immediately opens your computer to the real possibility of malware designed to allow scammers to steal personal information and track computer usage in order to commit identity theft.
- Completely delete the message from your inbox. This can be done by highlighting the message in MS Outlook then hitting the Delete button on the keyboard. In a web browser such as Gmail, highlight the email in the inbox then click delete at the top of the browser.
- Run a full virus scan immediately on your computer if you did click on any links. If your computer does not have virus protection, several are available at no cost online. Before installing the software, check out the company at www.bbb.org.