Phone Relay Service Used in Attempted Scam against Businesses

June 2, 2010 – St. Paul, MN – The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) is warning all businesses, but particularly restaurants, that they’re being targeted by scammers who are abusing Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) in an attempt to defraud them. Two restaurants in the Twin Cities have reported this scam to the BBB in recent days, so it’s very likely other restaurants are being contacted too.

The Telecommunications Relay Service is a telephone service that allows people with hearing or speech disabilities to place and receive phone calls. TRS communications assistants serve as ‘middle men’ for the calls, relaying what the hearing-impaired person types to the called party by voice, and converting to text what the called party voices back to the calling party.

How the scam works: Scammers place a call through TRS to a restaurant and place an unusually large order, often for delivery. The scammer then offers to pay with a credit card and usually asks if they can overpay and have the overage wired back to them. Inevitably, the credit card used by the scammer is discovered to be stolen, leaving the company out those funds and the funds they wired to the scammers.

Though this scam appears to be heavily targeting restaurants, it can easily be altered and used on any type of business. To avoid falling victim to this scheme and others like it, the BBB advises that businesses:

• Keep their guard up and never wire money to unfamiliar parties, even if they’ve given you a credit card number to cover the cost.
• Inform their employees of scams of this nature and how they operate.
• Implement policies about payment processes and make sure all employees always follow proper protocol.

If you ever receive an unusual order or have concerns about a potential scam, contact the BBB at 651-699-1111, toll-free 800-646-6222 or online at www.bbb.org.

Related Articles

06/15/2010 Scammers Target Metro Restaurants Again A scam targeting restaurants in the metro area to trick restaurants into helping them establish an identity for an online service like Craigslist.
04/22/2010 BBB gives Healthy Online Services a Failing Grade The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota is warning consumers about Healthy Online Services, a company which sells weight loss supplements and other health products over the Internet.
03/24/2010 Free Trial Can Be Risky Business A recurring concern we hear about at the BBB involves customers signing up online for ‘risk-free’ trials of various health products, including Acai Berry weight loss and teeth- whitening products. In fact, offers like these made the Better Business Bureau’s Top Ten list of scams and rip-offs that took advantage of consumers and small business owners in 2009.