The interview is edited for clarity.
FRED FLETCHER – FIERRO: It’s Morning Edition on KRPS. I'm Fred Fletcher Fierro. A popular quote about impersonation goes like this. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. That's from Oscar Wilde, of course. Recently, the Better Business Bureau has had reports of people impersonating businesses. And I would assume, Pam, that these are businesses that are doing good work. Regional director of the Better Business Bureau office in Springfield, Missouri, Pamela Hernandez joins us this morning to tell us more. Good morning, Pam.
PAM HERNANDEZ: Good morning. And I love starting off with an Oscar Wilde quote. Thank you for that.
FRED: Well, that's the first thing that came to mind because people, they want to imitate businesses or have you gotten reports about this, I believe in Missouri. And these are successful businesses. These aren't just some, you know, poorly run business. So, I suppose these businesses, you know, well, they're at least imitating us, I suppose.
PAM: Yeah, they're reputable companies. in the press release, really listed things that were in Missouri, but this is something we're seeing all over the country. It's not just related to the Midwest or to Missouri, where scammers are taking that invitation, a flattery concept and saying, you know what, you have such a great reputation. We're going to see if we can take advantage of that to try to get money and sometimes personal information out of consumers.
FRED: Yeah, it's incredible the way scammers just pinpoint certain businesses, consumers in different ways. I mean, I guess we could give them an for creativity, although it causes a lot of heartburn and heartache for other people. So if we could zero in on how Missouri residents and Missouri businesses are being affected by this?
PAM: Well, for example, there were scammers impersonating a heavy equipment and vehicle sales company with a fake website, very convincing looking website paired with social media ads that had consumers purchasing this heavy equipment or vehicles online. Consumers lost a over $223,000 before it was discovered.
FRED: Wow, so we're not talking about a small-town thing here and there, 500 bucks, thousand bucks. I mean, that's small time to some people. This is 10s of thousands of dollars.
PAM: It absolutely can be. We've seen these, particularly in the vehicle sales realm. Maybe a dealership went out of business or a A business that sounded like it could be a vehicle sales company goes out of business. A scammer picks up that name, that website, selling classic cars. And so each transaction can be 40, 50, $60,000. So it's real important for consumers to do the research and look for some red flags that you might not be working with who you think you are.
FRED: You know what? I remember a related story in Springfield. It's got to be in the past year too. Where there was a car dealership, it was run by maybe a couple of brothers, and they had a really bad reputation, but then when you went on to social media, or there... website, it looked like it was a really reputable company, even though they'd been complaints. I don't know if people complained about the Better Business Bureau, but I certainly saw this story occurring in Springfield. So it makes it super confusing for somebody if you're out there buying a car. And you brought up cars also. Because when we have a hurricane, for instance, of Florida or in the Gulf of Mexico, inevitably we'll have the stories of those cars being flooded or damaged, eventually sold to other parts of the United States. So I suppose that all works into these kind of scams also.
PAM: You know, it can. It goes back to making sure that whoever you're working with is who they say they are and that they're a reputable company. That's part of the mission that BBB is here to fulfill is giving consumers a place to go to find out if it's a reputable business and who that legitimate contact is for that business. Does the website you're surfing match the one listed at BBB? So having those resources and asking those questions and certainly being aware if something just sounds too good to be true are all things consumers need to know, right?
FRED: Too good to be true. You know, you and I have talked time and again, literally for years. about fake websites that look too good to be true, and we can click between the tabs, and it's like they take a mirror image of the legit website. So if somebody's out there listening and you're fooled by these things, don't feel bad. Even people who do this for a living, it's hard to tell the difference.
PAM: It really can be, and scammers are so good at creating these fake websites. So it's looking for those small details, links that maybe don't work the way that they're supposed to go, or a blurry image on the website or a strange area code to call, really be that little thing that triggers someone to step back and do some more research.
FRED: Yeah, I was going to ask you what kind of guidelines or tips that we can just have on our monitor, on our radar to avoid these kind of things. You know, one we've already brought up, we bring up every time we talk, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
PAM: Absolutely. That's the biggest gut check right there. But after that, if you're working with someone and you can go back to the equipment example, like the heavy equipment, tractors, backhoes, we see those types of things as well as cars. If they won't let you see the piece of equipment or the car, if they insist on it being delivered to you, if you can't, call back a customer service number, find a working customer service number. These are all red flags that something's off.
FRED: Pamela Hernandez, Regional Director of the Better Business Bureau in Springfield, Missouri. Pam, always nice to talk to you. Thanks again for your time and information.
PAM: Oh, thank you for having me.
FRED: It's Morning Edition on KRPS. I'm Fred Fletcher Fierro.
