BBB Business Reviews Can Help You Ferret Out Fake Firms

Bogus companies crop up all the time, especially in the timeshare resale industry. The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to research companies carefully after a senior citizen from Nevada lost more than $2,000 to a company that said it was based in St. Louis.

The firm, Ballard Marketing Group, claimed an address in the Frisco building in downtown St. Louis: 906 Olive Street, Suite 520. A BBB investigator went to the building. There was no such suite number, and a building security guard said there was no record of Ballard Marketing Group ever having an office in the building.

The victim, from Reno, Nev., said she wired $2,146 to Mexico after being contacted by Ballard Marketing Group to sell her timeshare. She never received funds from the sale, so she called the BBB to complain. The BBB called phone numbers listed on the firm's website but was unable to reach anyone with the company.

The BBB has the following tips for consumers who want to determine whether a company is legitimate:

• Check out the business with the BBB by going to the BBB website or by calling 314-645-3300. BBB Business Reviews include reports for known scam companies.
• Confirm that the business is actually at the address reported on its website or on emailed materials. By doing an Internet search of other businesses at the same address and calling them, you can usually learn whether the questionable business has offices there. You can also contact the building’s owner or manager. If it is a local office, you may want to visit the address.
• Ask for business references and contact them. Bogus companies rarely will be able to give you the name of a legitimate outside business contact who can vouch for them.
• Be wary of information on the company’s website or in emailed documents. Thieves are adept at fabricating phony websites, often copying them from legitimate sites or other fake sites.
• Be especially careful of Internet businesses like timeshare resale firms or loan companies that ask for upfront fees. Requests to wire money are often signs of a scam.
  
• Ask company representatives where the business is registered and then contact the corporation registration office in that state to verify the registration. (Often that is the secretary of state’s office).  If the registration cannot be verified, it probably would be best to avoid the business.