City Warns of Scam Targeting Alpharetta-Area Businesses

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Recent emails informing Alpharetta-area businesses they have won an award from the so-called Alpharetta Award Program appear to be part of a scam designed to get companies to pay for vanity awards and plaques, the city said on Monday.

The emails may be confusing to area businesses who may believe that they are related to the Alpharetta Business Awards, a recognition program coordinated by the city of Alpharetta.

“The Alpharetta Awards Program sounds similar and seems to be capitalizing on an annual recognition program coordinated by the city,” states Samir Abdullahi, Alpharetta’s economic development manager. “Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, we became aware of the other program only when a business owner advised us of an email she had received.”

The email stated that the business owner had been selected for the 2015 Alpharetta Awards. It provided a link to a website for more information that, in turn, lists a telephone number — 888-509-9915 — to call for questions.

Not stated in the email is that to receive the award, businesses must pay for a plaque, with costs starting at $149.99 and going up from there.

By contrast, the city’s annual recognition program comes with no costs or strings attached.

“The city of Alpharetta began its awards program three years ago to recognize Alpharetta-based businesses who have demonstrated excellence in their respective fields during the year,” Abdullahi explains. “It is an opportunity for us to bring attention to those businesses and express our appreciation for the investments that they have made in Alpharetta and for their efforts to excel. We would never ask a business to pay for us to say thank you.”

The city of Alpharetta notes that so called “vanity award” programs are not uncommon and provides a few tips to area businesses to protect them from falling victim:

• Learn everything that you can about who is giving the award. If it is coming from an organization that you have never before heard of, it is likely a group that just wants your money.
• If you did not apply for an award or the group cannot tell you how you were nominated, the award is likely not legitimate.
• Most legitimate awards do not come with costs for the recipient. If there is a cost, look into the organization and the award even more closely.

The city has reported the issue to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which is investigating similar complaints in other communities.

Image via Shutterstock