There’s a warning for small business owners across Acadiana about new scams targeting them.     

Scammers have collected $290 million from small business owners. 

The Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau released Operation Main Street: Stopping Small Business Scams. 

The goal is to catch scammers targeting small businesses. 

Jenn Love of the Better Business Bureau of Acadiana says their mission is to protect consumers, especially small business owners, from scammers. 

“Partnering with law-enforcement, we created Main Street Operation. It’s basically a lot of information and a lot of education for small business owners to teach their employees,” says Love.

These scammers are creative in hurting small business owners financially.  

Love says, “They’re being contacted by scammers saying that their licenses are expired, or they have to pay for something that they don’t necessarily have to pay for.” 

Scammers will show up in person with supplies saying they claim have been ordered.  

“And then they’ll intimidate the employees on duty to actually pay for them,” explains Love.

With many small businesses here in Acadiana, it’s important owners are aware of scams targeting them. 

“We want to protect them,” adds Love.

The top five scams identified as putting small businesses at risk are: 

    1. Bank/credit card company imposters 

    2. Directory listing and advertising services 

    3. Fake invoices/supplier bills 

    4. Fake checks 

    5. Tech support scams 

You can download a free manual of small business scam information explaining what scams are out there and how to avoid them here.

If you have a scam you would like me to investigate, email me at SMasters@klfy.com.