BBB warns about online extortion scam

The Better Business Bureau is warning about a scam that involves reputation management. As there have been issues in the past where these supposed extortions just happened to be false reporting by uninformed reporters who did not due their proper due diligence. In one instance a reputation company that offered to clean up a ripoffreport listing about a client who was a DJ had the DJ thinking that the company posted the bad review about them and was then calling to request money to help clean it up.

In reality there are over 100,000 reports posted with dozens posted daily that no reputation company would ever need to go through that process. The current alleged scheme involves fake or negative reviews on the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakotas website. This is attacking photographers and business owners as they receive inquiries about being interested in their work followed by an email from a reputation company according to president Dana Badgerow. In reality this could be the farthest from the truth of what is happening but there is no verification to the validity of the story in the Jamestown Report.

In the email the options given to the business owners and photographers is as follows:

* Ignore the bad reviews (not advised).

* Hire a reputation management company to suppress negative comments — though the email states there “is no guarantee of success.”

* Hire them on a ‘per customer’ basis — at a rate of $299 per customer — to convince the person not to post any more negative reviews.

“This is not a shakedown as I am not the author of these complaints.”

Have you received an email like this or are you looking for a legitimate reputation management company to help you with your issues? If so contact us today for a quote and we an guide you on the best practices in the reputation management world.