If you are searching through ads on Craigslist, the Better Business Bureau says watch out for sellers that are deceiving buyers by falsely claiming participation in a phony BBB protection program. The BBB says it doesn't have a "Purchase Protection Program" even though some Craigslist ads claim differently.
"Consumers look for BBB Accredited Businesses and the BBB seal when evaluating the trustworthiness of businesses because the log tells them that the business lives up to the BBB's rigorous standards," said BBB spokesman Steve Cos.
"Unfortunately, some businesses and scammers will lie to customers and falsely claim that they are accredited by BBB, therefore it's important to verify BBB accreditation at the
source," Cox said.
This is also a problem Call For Action has reported on in the past with businesses falsely using the BBB logo in the phone book or on its contracts even though they are not a member. Make sure you always verify the legitimacy of a business, even when you see any consumer or trade organization logo.
The BBB contacted the site hosting the Web site, but the BBB says then another one popped up. The BBB says the scammers use more than a dozen names, and even created a fake BBB reliability report for the phony identity on the scammer's Web site. The BBB says overstockshop.biz was the first Web site in question, and now it's overstocksales.org.
Always independently go to the
BBB's Web site, as opposed to clicking on any links to make sure the information given by the business is authentic.
