A St. Paul consumer contacted the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota today to say they received a call informing them they had won a prize package, which included a new car. The consumer was immediately skeptical and told the caller that. The scammer then claimed a Better Business Bureau affiliation and promised the prize package was real.
At that point, the consumer thanked the caller for their time and said they would check this out with the BBB. An operator at the BBB quickly informed the consumer the offer was fraudulent. The consumer also reported the call they received came up on caller ID as having an 876 prefix, which indicates the call came from Jamaica. Many phone scams targeting Americans originate in Jamaica.
All consumers are advised to be extremely leery of calls informing them they've won cash or prizes - especially calls claiming an affiliation with the BBB or FTC. Neither of these agencies award prizes of any kind, nor do they endorse any contests or sweepstakes.
In virtually every case, calls like this are fraudulent in nature and designed solely to defraud consumers. Anytime you're told you have to pay money upfront to claim a prize, you haven't won
anything.
