BBB warns of scam emails that could put your information at risk

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Better Business Bureau has a new scam warning that consumers, businesses and companies need to be aware of.

According to the Better Business Bureau, almost 45% of spam emails are sent from Russia and mainland China with about 11% coming from the United States.

“Using these emails to trick individuals into revealing personal information or click harmful links that take control of your computer,” said Toddnetta Trice, communications specialist for the BBB.

These emails may have links attached to them asking for users to click the link to resolve a problem or receive an amount of money.

“Your bank account, information, or credit card — debit card information, scammers will get a hold of that. We’ve had big businesses actually be victim of that,” said Trice.

Because a majority of these emails are received in foreign speaking countries, there are ways to avoid this scam.

“The advice we give to some people is to, again, look for grammatical errors or spelling — strange sounding phrases,” said Trice.

Some banks may use emails as a way to communicate problems within your account but be weary of those emails.

“Always double check when you get emails saying it was a problem with payment. Make sure it’s a legitimate source and some other common message like ‘You’re eligible for a government grant, click the link to make a payment.’ Or confirm some personal or financial information,” said Trice.

Most importantly report those scam emails.

“Never reply to the email with personal information, always, always report that email. Flag it as a spam, report it as phishing. I know Gmail allows you to report it as phishing and then also you can forward phishing emails to the Federal Trade Commission,” said Trice.

Another tip is to contact the company directly or to delete the email immediately.

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