Better Business Bureau ‘Victim’ of Scam

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has advised the public to be on the lookout for an email, or "phishing" scam, involving using emails disguised to look like they came from the bureau.

BBB officials in Eastern Washington say people have been receiving an email, targeted especially at business owners, which contains an attachment entitled "Small Business Questionnaire" or SBQ.

   The BBB says if you receive ANY such email, do not open the attachment. This document is normally used by the BBB to gather information from companies, and is used to update BBB Business Reviews.

However, in this case, the attachment is simply a disguise for a malware program that infects the recipients computer, not only causing significant performance issues, but also leaves the computer open to hacking.

The BBB says over the last three years, over 200 such phishing sites have been taken down, or disabled.

Here's what to look for if you receive an email from the BBB, according to their officials:

• The From line is "BBB Accreditation Services <firstnamelastname@newyork.bbb.org>.
• The Subject line references “BBB SBQ Form” along with random reference numbers.
• The malicious attachment is labeled “BBB SBQ Form.zip.”
• The return addresses in the phishing emails are protected by CBBB’s use of DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance), which helps protect recipients from fraudulent email. End users without DMARC filtering, however, must rely on their own spam filters for protection.

If you do receive any such correspondence, please contact authorities and the BBB immediately.

If you receive such an email, here's what do to, according to the BBB:

BBB is asking that anyone who receives one of the fraudulent emails to forward it to phishing@council.bbb.org.