Scammers Target Metro Restaurants Again

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota has been made aware of another scam targeting restaurants in the metro area. In this scheme, what scammers are trying to do is trick restaurants into helping them establish an identity for an online service like Craigslist, which will allow the scammers to bypass Craigslist verification controls put in place to prevent spam and online scams.

Here’s how it works: scammers contact a restaurant and claim to be health inspectors. They then attempt to set up a time for the inspection. Before ending the call, the caller gives the restaurant employee a 5-digit confirmation code, which they say must be given to the health inspector. Another call is then received sometime later that day asking the restaurant owner to relay the confirmation number. If they do that, though they themselves have not provided any sensitive financial information, they’ve helped the scammers get past Craigslist’s (or other online services’) verification controls.

To set up a Craigslist account, users have to provide a phone number. So scammers, not wanting to tie their phone number to an account used for fraudulent purposes, will enter the telephone number of a legitimate business – usually that of a restaurant. The scammer then receives a 5-digit verification code. At this point the scammers contact restaurants pretending to be health inspectors (Note: MOST restaurant health inspections are performed on a surprise basis). Again, the goal of the scam is not –generally speaking —to defraud restaurants. What they want is for the restaurant to read back the verification code when the automated phone call from Craigslist goes out (to verify the account). If they’re successful in doing that, they’ve now got a Craigslist account which isn’t tied to their number, and they’re free to scam other people.

The BBB is unaware of any instances where anyone pretending to be a health inspector has actually visited any restaurants, but businesses should be prepared for anything. It’s a good idea to have policies in place in regard to unexpected visitors. Employees should be trained to ask for proper identification and report anything unusual to management immediately. There was an instance in the metro area several months ago where a restaurant was victimized by a robber posing as a delivery person.

In Minnesota, restaurant inspections are generally performed by the Department of Health or city/county health officials.

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