Story Created:
Oct 27, 2009 at 6:57 AM CST
Story Updated:
Oct 27, 2009 at 7:03 AM CST
(October 27, 2009)
Main Topic: Ads for teeth whiteners often deliver more than you want.
October is National Dental Hygiene month and Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be cautious of online ads offering the promise of a whiter, brighter smile. BBB has received a recent increase of complaints from consumers who thought they were signing up for a free trial of teeth whitening products, but were repeatedly billed for products and services they didn’t want.
The ads for teeth whiteners can be found on popular sites such as FoxNews.com, CNN.com and ABCNews.com. The ads typically link consumers to phony blogs and fake news sites designed to look like impartial third party endorsements of the products. The phony endorsements then direct the consumer to a main Web site claiming the product sold is “As seen on” ABC, Forbes.com, CBS News, CNN and USA Today and displaying the logos of these news outlets.
BBB has identified several companies that are behind the teeth whitening ads and Web sites including:
· Dazzle White
· White Smile
· Teeth Smile
· Dazzle Smile
· Advanced Wellness Research
BBB offers the following advice to consumers on purchasing teeth whitening products online:
· Beware of supposed third-party endorsements.
· Always read the fine print.
· Check the company out with your BBB first
Schemes of the week: Two new phishing scams have been showing up in our e-mails. One concerns terrorism alerts and the other concerns phony BBB complaints.
Phony FBI Terrorism e-mail
The FBI is warning all of us that e-mails are making the rounds that promise access to FBI terrorism reports. According to the FBI these contain nothing more than malicious software. The scam-mails claim to be from Department of Homeland Security and the FBI Counterterrorism Division. The e-mails supposedly contain information about confidential intelligence, information about Ben Laden, etc. These messages may contain Trojan software, which is designed to steal user authentication credentials or send spam messages. Its introduced when the victim goes to the referenced video or website. The FBI and other Home Security folks are NOT going to send top secret information via e-mail.
Phony BBB Complaint e-mail
Better Business Bureau is alerting consumers and businesses about a new phishing attack that resembles an e-mail confirmation claiming the recipient has filed a complaint with BBB about a business. When consumers file a complaint with BBB about a business, they may often receive a confirmation e-mail and subsequent follow-up e-mails from BBB on the status of their complaint. The malicious phishing e-mail attack is designed to mimic a confirmation e-mail from BBB and includes the full name of the recipient and the name of the company they supposedly filed a complaint about. Anyone who receives a complaint e-mail confirmation claiming to be from BBB, but has not actually filed a complaint with BBB, should not click on any links in the e-mail.
