Better Business Bureau is a reputable organization that offers consumers and businesses resources including business and charity reviews, stats, ratings, and complaints.

While BBB is the barometer in evaluating businesses against standards, scammers call several business owners claiming to be BBB representatives. Using a very official speech, they pretend they need to update your business profile on the BBB network, asking for private information (credit card numbers, etc) as “confirmation”.

How to avoid: it’s a tough one, since real BBB reps actually make occasional phone calls to the owners as well. Just like the real agents, the scammers use professionalism and courtesy, making it hard for you to differentiate. The best thing to do is to ask them to send you their requirements and their needs in an e-mail. You could then see where the email is coming from or you could forward it to the real Better Business Bureau, to confirm if it’s theirs or not. The real BBB reps wouldn’t mind doing that.