A common question from you, the consumer, is “Why can’t the BBB go after and shut down the foreign scams?”

The BBB does help shut down one scam and another pops up. And on and on it goes. The bottom line is we are helping keep the number down but it is a constant battle to keep these scams under control. Part of the battle plan is working with the Canadian authorities to get information out. This proactive approach does help.

One scam coming out of Canada that we are hearing a lot about these days is the advanced fee loans scams. “Companies” are targeting people in the area, especially the military. If you are offered a loan but have to pay money up front to get the money, don’t do it. It is a scam. We recently heard about a person who paid $3,000 to get a $20,000 loan. After paying the $3,000, the person never heard from the “company” again. The badly needed $3,000 went into the abyss.

Unfortunately, once money is paid to these con artists it is impossible to get the money back. Check with us before you spend money. Let us know if you think you have been contacted by a con artist so we can warn the community.

Write me back about what scams you are seeing. We will go to work to get the word out about it.