CONTACT: Lisa Schiller, Media Relations
PHONE: 414- 847- 6055
FAX: 414-302- 0355
E-MAIL: lschiller@wisconsin.bbb.org
Milwaukee, Wis. – BBB is warning businesses about invoices coming from IDBS, a company who indicates its address is 2002 Summit Boulevard, Suites 300 & 400, Atlanta, Georgia.
To date, the BBB Serving Atlanta has received 148 complaints from 39 states. Its file opened in November, 2013 when it began receiving complaints. The report has an “F” grade, the BBB’s lowest, due to failure to respond to 27 complaints. In addition, IDBS failed to respond to an Advertising Review. In January, 2014 the BBB Serving Atlanta requested written documentation from IDBS concerning advertising claims made on its website.
The BBB Serving Atlanta has confirmed that complaints received are from businesses, with the majority of complaints from dental or medical clinics throughout the U.S.
Ten Wisconsin businesses have filed complaints against IDBS.
Complainants allege receiving an invoice for $599 for “business listing optimization.” The businesses disputed the charge, stating they had not contracted with the company nor authorized any charges. In addition, all report they did not receive any services from IDBS.
BBB Serving Atlanta reports the company has responded to some complaints, stating: “Our files indicate that we spoke to (customer). We have a verbal recording of him/her authorizing the invoice on (date). However it is our company policy total customer (sic) satisfaction therefore we closed the account and put the company on our do not call list.”
Some of the invoices list a suite number of 300, while others list suite 400. However, the BBB Serving Atlanta received notices from two different businesses with offices in the same building, stating the suite numbers on the invoices belong to them, and they claim no affiliation with IDBS. Based on this information, the BBB cannot be sure where this company is located, or if they have an actual physical location at all.
According to domain information, the company’s website, internet-data-solutions.net, was created on October 29, 2013. Currently, the website is no longer active. Attempts to contact the company by phone were not successful.
BBB offers the following tips to avoid being the victim of a phony invoice scam:
* Designate only certain employees to make company purchases.
* Train staff to direct calls to only employees authorized to order supplies and services.
* Check all documentation before you pay bills. Make sure you intentionally purchased and have received the items for which you have been billed.
* Know your rights. If you receive supplies or invoices for services you didn’t order, don’t pay. It’s illegal for a seller to invoice you, send threatening notices for merchandise you didn’t order, or ask you to return the merchandise.
* File a complaint and report fraud to the BBB.
For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at http://www.bbb.org/wisconsin or 414-847-6000 (metro Milwaukee), 920-734-4352 (Appleton), 608-268-2221 (Madison) or 1-800-273-1002 (elsewhere in Wisconsin). Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Twitter, Facebook and You Tube.
ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2013, people turned to BBB more than 132 million times for BBB Business Reviews on more than 4.5 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org/wisconsin. The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for 112 local, independent BBBs across North America, as well as home to its national programs on dispute resolution, advertising review, and industry self-regulation. BBB Serving Wisconsin was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.
