Summer is here and it's the season of weddings and home improvement projects! In this issue you'll find advice from the BBB to help ensure your special day is truly special and tips on how to go about getting started on that summer project, whether it's new siding, landscaping or a patio project. Summer also means people will be going door-to-door selling magazines. We'll tell you what to be on the lookout for!

We've also been monitoring two bogus advance fee loan firms claiming to be operating out of Fargo, North Dakota (they're not) and Natures Prime Organic Foods, Inc., an online food retailer based out Victoria, MN, that consumers allege has not been shipping orders in a timely manner. Thank you for reading, everyone – we appreciate it!

 

Love is in the air as many couples prepare for their long-awaited wedding day this summer. When preparing for the big day, the Better Business Bureau advises people to proceed with caution when it comes to buying a wedding dress online, choosing a photographer and selecting a wedding planner. Doing so will help ensure the special day goes off without a hitch.

"With the cost of today's wedding averaging around $28,000, you want to make sure you get everything you pay for," said Dana Badgerow, president and CEO of the BBB. "Before securing your wedding vendors and paying any upfront fees it's important to do your research."

 

After issuing an alert earlier this month about Fraser Brokerage, a fraudulent online entity claiming to offer consumers advance fee loans, the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) has discovered another company – Wakefield Financial – making the same fraudulent offer and also claiming a Fargo address. The BBB has already received four complaints against Wakefield Financial, and in each case consumers wired advance fees and then never received the loans they were promised. In the case of Fraser Brokerage, the BBB knew the company was up to no good when the Fargo address they claimed was in the same building which houses our Fargo office!

 

Every month, the BBB informs the public of an absolute 'no,' a fraudulent scheme or offer they should be on the lookout for. The absolute no for June involves scams that seek to collect payments from unsuspecting consumers via Green Dot MoneyPaks.

The BBB and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division are partnering to warn consumers that online thieves have found a new method of siphoning cash from them: Green Dot MoneyPaks. MoneyPaks, which are sold in stores throughout the U.S., are reloadable debit cards normally used to make same-day payments or add money to prepaid cards or PayPal accounts. In recent weeks, both the BBB and the DPS have noted a significant increase in schemes where scammers either tried to solicit – or were able to collect – payments via MoneyPak for merchandise, advance fee loans or sweepstakes prizes that all proved to be fraudulent or nonexistent.

 

Operators in the BBB Resource Center are available Monday through Friday from

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer your questions at 651-699-1111, toll-free at 800-646-6222. You can also check company reports 24 hours a day at www.bbb.org or

e-mail inquiries to ask@thefirstbbb.org.

Remember, we're your BBB:

we're here for you!