Better Business Bureau Tangled in E-Mail Scam

By Annys Shin

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; Page D03

"The Better Business Bureau network was the target of a "spoofing" scam yesterday in which thousands of businesses in the United States and Canada received e-mails encouraging them to download what is thought to be a computer virus.

The e-mails, using the name of the 95-year-old network of nonprofit groups that looks into consumer complaints, told businesses that they were the subject of a complaint and included a link to view related documents. Clicking on the link, however, accessed the address book of an infected computer and distributed the counterfeit e-mail to more recipients, said Steve Cox, spokesman for the Council of Better Business Bureaus."

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This may be the first serious spoofing campaign aimed at a nonprofit. (If you've heard of another, let us know).