Northborough Businesses Targeted by Vanity Award Scam

You may have seen this prestigious looking award in local business with a “Best of Northborough” with the business's name and then a category etched into it.

The BBB has issued several warnings about the company behind the vanity awar^{d. First,}  they notify you that you have won this award, just pay for it. The BBB warns “The group behind the “awards” program is the U. S. Commerce Association. The association has been sending out news releases in recent months to businesses nationwide, telling them they have been selected as “outstanding local businesses” and offering them an opportunity to buy one or more awards to mark the honor.  

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) urges that area businesses exercise caution when dealing with this group or a related organization called the U. S. Local Business Association.

Looking into more details it would seem that now they reside in NY City to start anew perhaps? The full warning can be read here.

What drove me to find this out? I wanted to know who was behind these awards and find out how to become a nominee, only to find out that if I pay I can have one too; they even said they have been trying to reach me.

Go figure—I didn’t realize that I was so hard to get in touch with.

Be safe, be smart! And remember Bill Gates is not going to give you a million dollars for forwarding that e-mail.