GRAND CHUTE, Wis — A Fox Valley woman says she was scammed out of $1,000 by someone posing as a member of her non-profit organization.
Mari Alyce Dorman says someone claiming to be the president of the American Massage Therapy Association text messaged her recently to purchase $1,000 of gift cards for an upcoming charity event. Dorman who is also a member of the organization claims the person knew her first and last name and even the name of the treasurer of the organization.
Text messages reveal that the person on the other end of the line claimed that the organizations treasurer would reimburse her, and that why it was vital for her to send photo's of the receipts as well. Unfortunately, once Dorman sent the person posing as the organizations president photos of the gift cards, so that they could be "used for an upcoming charity event," the money was taken off of the cards.
The Better Business Bureau says this is scam that is on the rise. The BBB's Northeast Wisconsin Director Susan Bach says this type of scam involves the scammer likely doing their research about the organization online. By looking into a business or organization the BBB says the scammer can better relate to the victims.
"We call it an impersonation scam and those are really rising in popularity. I think it's within the top five scams that have been reported to the Better Business Bureau," says Bach.
The BBB says the best way to determine if a text message you received is a scam or not, Is to call the number back. They add that the scammers likely do their research before reaching out to you on Facebook or even your companies website to be more informed and relatable.
