Q: Dear BBB,
I received a suspicious Christmas e-card via email from an unknown source the other day. When I tried to open the link to the e-card nothing happened. I deleted the email, however, my computer has been acting weird lately. Can computer viruses be downloaded via e-cards?
~ Mystified Mailer
A: Mystified Mailer,
RIGHT, computer viruses can be downloaded via e-cards. By design e-cards are an extremely easy way for hackers to disguise phishing e-mails that direct users to Web sites that install viruses and malware. You should think twice before clicking on a link in an e-card e-mail as hackers often use logos from recognized brands and companies in order to appear legitimate. Phishing e-mails posing as e-cards can be difficult to spot. Spelling and grammatical mistakes are a huge red flag. Don’t follow the link in an e-card if you don’t recognize the name of the sender.
Q: Dear BBB,
I want to buy a book from an online company in the U.S. but I don’t know anything about the business. I only seem to be able to look up BBB Reliability Reports for local businesses at your website.
~Savvy Searcher
A: Savvy Searcher,
You are right to be using the BBB website vi.bbb.org to check out a company before doing business with them. However, you are WRONG about only being able to look up local companies from our website. We do keep a database of information about businesses on Vancouver Island, but if you want to search for a company somewhere else in Canada or in the United States you can do so from our website. At the bottom of the “Check Out a Business or Charity” search page there is a link labeled “Search our National Database.” Click on it and you can search for business reports in the local databases of every BBB across all of North America.
Q: Dear BBB,
I heard on the radio that there was a rental scam in Vancouver in which the victim put down a deposit on a vacation home, only to find out that the person they sent the money to was a scam artist. Have you heard of this scam?
~ Aggravated Agent
A: Aggravated Agent,
RIGHT, the BBB has heard of this rental scam. Recently an ad was placed on vancouver.craiglist.ca falsely listing a house for rent in Vancouver. The ad instructed interested renters to make a payment of $1900 and to pick up the keys from a reputable real estate management service. In typical rental scams con artists bilk deposits from unsuspecting victims for a property that’s not actually available to rent. In this case the ad referred to a legitimate existing rental property, but the con artists had the victim send money to a person offshore. At the BBB we suggest that if you are looking for a place to rent to try to get a referral from friends or family to ensure you’re dealing with a legitimate landlord.