From the Executive Director

Juan A. Navejar Jr

Business scams are everywhere today. We get them in our mailboxes, emails and over the telephone. People across America fall to scam or fraud case every day. Innocent people fall pray often losing their life savings by smooth-talking artists over the telephone or by a simple get-rich scheme that just sounds too good to be true. 
Those who fall to these scams often do not know to whom to turn to when it happens to them. But how do you know if it’s the real McCoy? Knowing what to look for before the bait is dropped and you take the bait is key to ending consumer fraud.
Here are some things to that tell you it’s a scam.
The phone call – you are contacted by someone about a business deal. If you think about it, when you call a company to place an order, you know who is on the other end of the phone call. When the phone rings at your home or business, you are already at a disadvantage because you do not know who the caller really is.
The bait – most of the time you are the winner of a large sum of money or prize. The caller makes is sound too good to be true. You as a business owner know that no one hands you large sum of money for no reason at all.
Getting personal – by this I mean getting your personal information about your bank account numbers or social security number. This should be a big red flag. Never give out these types of info to anyone over the telephone.
Pay first – If they ask you to put up some form of payment up front, red flag. It is illegal to require up-front payment before funding a loan or paying out sweepstakes prizes. A big alert is when they ask you to wire or airmail money instead of mailing it.
Whether it’s by mail, telephone or even face-to-face, scam artists can bait even the most honest people any day. It begins with the unsolicited contact normally from a company you’ve never heard about. In the state of Texas, the Lottery Commission will not call you to tell you have won. You do not get grants without applying for them. You do not get easy loans if you have bad credit.
If you or a love one fallen victim to a scam you can contact the Texas Attorney General’s office at 1-800-252-8011 for assistance.  Businesses in Texas are required to register with the Secretary of State or the local county clerk's office. You can contact the SOS to find out the name of the registered agent for the business. Unfortunately, crooks tend not to bother reporting themselves to the proper authorities. However, if you have lost money to a business that you can no longer reach, you can try to find contact information from the Secretary of State, or the county clerk where the business is located.
But don’t wait for this to happen. Instead, before you do business, make sure the company is real. It should have a real address and real people registered to do business in this state or another state or country that registers real businesses. Seek independent confirmation that the business is what it claims to be.
The best way to keep from being scam is to educate yourself or contact us at the Chamber if you feel you have been scammed and we will do the research for you.