Better Business Bureau Serving Central East Texas Names Top Ten Scams of 2021 | News

The Better Business Bureau serving Central East Texas announces East Texas’ Top Ten Scams of 2021. The Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network took in approximately 4.7 million reports in 2020 with consumer losses estimated at over $3.3 billion. The 2022 report will be published in the spring of 2021.

“Scam artists are not going anywhere. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, we’ve seen them become more aggressive,” said Mechele Agbayani Mills, President and CEO of BBB Serving Central East Texas. “Whether it’s online or over the phone, we must remain vigilant when it comes to protecting personal and financial information.”

The following list includes East Texas’ most reported scams and suspicious activities of 2021 via BBB Scam Tracker:

• Online purchase scams. It may seem as if some of the best deals many be found online, but use caution. It’s easy for a scammer to hijack photos from a legitimate retailer

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Stephanie Garland: Analysis charities when serving to disabled vets | Information

All through November, Individuals honor these who served in the U.S. armed forces. The Much better Business enterprise Bureau is advising consumers to be thorough when donating to charities that emphasize heartbreaking stories of disabled veterans.

There are several perfectly-run, legitimate charities that do assistance veterans, but other individuals fail to live up to their claims to guide veterans in will need. BBB has issued warnings about many charities that devoted extra income to boosting money than helping veterans. Other folks weren’t willing to expose how their funds have been spent or the volume of assistance they provided.

BBB Scam Tracker obtained 175 reports of charity scams in 2020 and 162 so significantly in 2021. Of those people, 14 dealt with veterans charities.

BBB Charity Critiques enable donors know whether a charity has fulfilled BBB Standards for Charity Accountability — 20 criteria intended to show that a charity is transparent

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Serving to Modest Businesses Prosper and Endure – Conduit Road

Impartial smaller enterprises are the spine of our communities, and these days, additional than at any time, tiny companies owned by individuals of color are hurting because of to the pandemic.

While no a single on your own can treatment complex, systemic issues, Comcast is deeply dedicated to participating in a position in driving adjust.

Comcast RISE was launched in October 2020 to give people today of coloration-owned small enterprises the equipment necessary to not just endure, but prosper. To date, approximately 3,700 Comcast Increase recipients from 422 cities throughout 34 states have gained support in the form of Tv set commercials, consulting providers, or technological know-how gear and solutions such as net, voice or cybersecurity. The recipient record incorporates 110 tiny businesses in Maryland.

Code Super Powers, dependent in Bowie, Md., was one particular of the Black-owned smaller firms decided on as a Comcast Increase recipient in the 1st

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BBB Serving the Heart of Texas combat in opposition to cons all through Army Purchaser Security Month | Business

Armed forces Purchaser Security Thirty day period, regarded every July given that 2013, is an chance for client recognition, enforcement and advocacy groups, this kind of as Greater Small business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to target on the affect of fraudulent or destructive organization tactics on the navy community. Irrespective of the sacrifices members of the U.S. armed forces and their people make every single working day, the army local community is a continual concentrate on for scammers and corporations using unethical procedures.

According to the FTC, the military services neighborhood (active-obligation support members, veterans, their people and reservists) have dropped more than $566 million to fraud from 2017 to the current, with the the vast majority, $60.8 million, to government impostor scams. The FTC stays focused to preserving America’s company members by way of continuous enforcement of described fraudulent exercise and an ongoing educational marketing campaign

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