Jacksonville, FL — The Better Business Bureau of Northeast Florida and the Southeast Atlantic says they’ve received reports from consumers getting calls from a scammer posing as a BBB representative.
A WOKV listener first reported the scam to us, and we followed up with the local BBB to learn they had received several reports of this scam and similar ones.
In this case, the person who received the scam call had previously been a victim of a tech-related scam. The caller told the victim that they were with the BBB, and they had caught the scammer and were going to refund the victim her money. In order to do that, the caller told the victim that they needed access to her computer to complete the transaction, but once she gave them access, they locked it up and held it for ransom.
“We’re not going to ask to take over your computer, and we’re not going to talk to you about giving you money back on something you’ve been scammed on,” says BBB of Northeast Florida and the Southeast Atlantic President Tom Stephens.
The BBB says scammers use a realistic looking site that has a BBB logo to gain access to the victim’s computer. In addition to reports of holding the computer hostage, they are also warning the scammer could try to access the victim’s bank account.
Stephens says the BBB does conduct calls, but it’s for information purposes. He says they call businesses regularly to discuss accreditation and complaints, and they call consumers to get information about complaints and reviews they’ve filed. Another red flag, is that Stephens says this caller claimed to be with the BBB in Atlanta- and another BBB would not be dealing with a complaint from the Jacksonville area.
Stephens says if you get this call, you should hang up and not give them any kind of access to your computer. You can report the call to the BBB Scam Tracker, and- if you would like- you can speak to a BBB representative at 904-721-2288.