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BBB President's Message: Happy February

Things are falling into place for our Integrity Award programs in April. Judging has recently been completed and our program planning is underway. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend!

  • Des Moines: Wednesday, April 11th - 11:45 Downtown Marriott, Des Moines, IA
  • Quad Cities: Thursday, April 26th - 1:45 Hotel Blackhawk, Davenport, IA
Watch the mail for your invitation to these extraordinarily interesting and inspiring luncheon celebrations as we honor local businesses and students of integrity.

Another special event that you will not want to miss is planned for March 7, 2012. The BBB is hosting a members only gathering at Guaranty Bank, 302 3rd Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids, starting at 5:15 p.m. Join us for networking, inspiration, food and drink. Lynn Manternach, Ph.D. of MindFire Communications will provide a program about branding and how to better connect with your customers. RSVP to Barbara Green no later than March 2nd at 3l9-365-1190.

We have been swamped with calls about emails impersonating the BBB. Since late November we have been subjected to a Bureau wide problem in the form of an email scam using the BBB name and logo proliferating across North America and even some overseas addresses. Most of the emails carry the famous BBB torch log and come with the subject line "Complaint from your customer." The emails have a link or an attachment containing malicious phishing malware that steals information, often with devastating results.

The BBB advises and recommends the following to anyone who receives the email:
  • Do not open any attachments
  • Do not click on any links
  • Delete the email from your inbox, delete it again from trash or recycling folders
  • Run a full system scan using reputable virus software
If you receive an email saying your business has a complaint filed against it with BBB, there are several things you can do to authenticate it:
  • Look for typos, grammatical errors, etc. in the text that could indicate it originated overseas.
  • Check to see who it says it is from. Complaints go out from the local BBBs, not from the headquarters office.
  • Hover your mouse over the link to see if its destination is really a bbb.org address.
  • Copy and paste the link into Notepad (not Word). Notepad does not support html, so if the link is a fake bbb.org address, the real link will show up.
  • If you still are not sure, contact the local BBB, and send them a new email to ask if you have a complaint (do not Reply to the email you received, or forward it to them).
The BBB is working with national law enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrator of this fraud, and is also looking into other measures it can take to help prevent future phishing scams from spreading. It is especially insulting to the Bureau as the leader in advancing marketplace trust to be the target of this pernicious problem!

Please make a point to join us in Cedar Rapids on March 7 or for one of our April award events.

---Chris Coleman