An Internet Scam Is On The Rise

It is not unusual for small businesses to make big bucks selling products over the internet.

The owners of one Beaumont business say they're out tens of thousands of dollars thanks to a Nigerian scam that consumer advocates say is on the rise.

This is where he starts giving out information of where to ship it to

A typical business day turned into a nightmare for Pam Edwards and Monica Vorpahl at BBS Collections in Beaumont.

“His first order was around two grand,” said Edwards.

That was not an unusually large order for a boutique that sells everything from jewelry, to shoes, dresses and more.

“This is something we do on a day to day basis, we were totally blind sided by this,” she said.

An internet customer known as Larry Leach bought $20,000 worth of merchandise in twelve days and wanted it delivered to Africa.

Leach gave the boutique eleven different credit card numbers which BBS checked and the bank confirmed were valid credit cards. It was only later that BBS and the bank learned the cards had been stolen. By then it was too late, the merchandise had already been shipped overseas.

Jay Sheppard from the Better Business Bureau said, “They are scams, and they are getting smarter, they are always finding ways to entice individuals.”

Sheppard says unfortunately, Nigerian scams like this one are on the rise.

“It's pretty devastating for a small business to lose the amount of money that we have lost,” said Edwards.

BBS will probably never get their money back, but they're hoping others will benefit from what they learned the hard way.

Several local businesses have been victims of some type of scam. If you need any information regarding scams or how to prevent from being scammed, you can call the Better Business Bureau at 835-5345.