Better Business Bureau lists top 10 scams of the year

Posted: 01/17/2012
Last Updated: 10 hours and 2 minutes ago
By: ABC15.com staff

PHOENIX - If it's too good to be true, if they ask you for money, or if they approach you unexpectedly, then it's often a scam.

To help with this, the Better Business Bureau opened a new investigative branch called, Scam Source .

It's a comprehensive resource on scam investigations from BBBs around the country. It reviews tips from the BBB and law enforcement.

The results are divided up into nine categories and the Scam of the Year, according to bbb.org :

Top Job Scam

BBB sees lots of secret shopper schemes, work-from-home scams, and other phony job offers, but the worst job-related scam can dash your hopes and steal your identity. In order to start the job, the candidate has to fill out a “credit report” or provide bank information for direct deposit of their “paychecks.” The online forms are nothing more than a way to capture sensitive personal data.

Top Sweepstakes and Lottery Scam

Sweepstakes and lottery scams come in all shapes and sizes, but the bottom line is almost always this: You’ve won a whole lot of money, and in order to claim it you have to send us a smaller amount of money. This year’s top sweepstakes scam was the email claiming to be from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announcing that the recipient was the winner of $1 million. If you aren’t sure, don’t click on the link but instead go directly to the homepage of the company mentioned.

Top Social Media/Online Dating Scam

Viral videos claiming to show everything from grisly footage of Osama bin Laden’s death to the latest celebrity hijinks have shown up on social media sites, often looking as if they have been shared by a friend. When you click on the link, you are prompted to “upgrade your Flash player,” but the file you end up downloading contains a worm that logs into your social media account, sends similar messages to your friends, and searches for your personal data. The next time you see a sensational headline for the latest viral video, resist the urge to peek.

Top Home Improvement Scam

Always near the top of BBB complaint data are home improvement contractors who often leave your home worse than they found it. They usually knock on your door with a story or a deal – the roofer who can spot some missing shingles on your roof, the paver with some leftover asphalt who can give you a great deal on driveway resealing.

Top Check Cashing Scam

Someone may contact you via a Craig’s List posting, maybe for a legitimate reason like buying your old couch or perhaps through a scam like hiring you as a secret shopper. Either way, they send you a check for more than the amount they owe you, and they ask you to deposit it into your bank account and then send them the difference via Western Union. A deposited check takes a couple of days to clear, whereas wired money is gone instantly. When the original check bounces, you are out whatever money you wired.

Top Phishing Scam

The most pernicious phishing scam this year disguised itself as official communication from NACHA – the National Automated Clearing House Association – which facilitates the secure transfer of billions of electronic transactions every year. The email claims one of your transactions did not go through, and it hopes you react quickly and click on the link before thinking it through.

Top Identity Theft Scam

Scammers could call your hotel room claiming they work there, and they may try to catch you while you're sleepy. By morning, your credit card could be used for a big shopping spree.

Top Financial Scam

All kinds of sound-alike websites have popped up to try to fool consumers into parting with their money. Some sound like a government agency, or even part of BBB or other nonprofit consumer organization. Most ask for an upfront fee to help you deal with your mortgage company or the government.

Top Sales Scam

Penny auctions are very popular because it seems like you can get something useful - cameras, computers, etc. – for way below retail. But you pay a small fee for each bid, and if you aren’t the winner, you lose that bid money. Although not all penny auction sites are scams, some are being investigated as online gambling. BBB recommends you treat them the same way you would legal gambling in a casino – know exactly how the bidding works, set a limit for yourself, and be prepared to walk away before you go over that limit.

Scam of the Year

The Scam of the Year is the BBB phishing scam. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people have gotten emails that very much look like an official notice from BBB. The subject line says something like “Complaint Against Your Business,” and the instructions tell the recipient to either click on a link or open an attachment to get the details. If the recipient does either, a malicious virus is launched on their computer.

To keep up-to-date on all scams, sign up on Scam Source to receive Scam Alerts by email. You can also report scams yourself.

Better Business Bureau lists top 10 scams of the year