CHICAGO — The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is alerting school districts across Northern Illinois about a school supply billing scam.
Complaints are being filed against a Las Vegas, Nev., business, “Scholastic School Supply,” that has allegedly sent false invoices to schools and school districts in 22 states. The districts are being billed $647.50 for a bulk purchase of textbooks that were never requested or received.
“This scam is similar to the “Yellow Pages Scam” that we first saw in 2013,” said Steve J. Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. “In that scam, small businesses and churches lost more than $14 million paying the bogus invoices.”
Information from the BBB serving Southern Nevada states they have received 51 complaints from throughout the country, as well as nearly 2,400 inquiries regarding this scam operation. The Nevada BBB says complaints continue to rise in increments of as many as 15 per day.
“With that kind of activity, it is easy to see how quickly the losses could add up.” noted Bernas.
School districts should be aware the contact information found on the invoices includes an email address which consumers report when contacted, no responses are received, a phone number which routes to a series of voice mail boxes and a mail drop address in Sewell, N.J., or Las Vegas. Although “Scholastic School Supply” lists addresses in those locations on its invoices, the BBB has been unable to locate any corporation filings, business licenses or any other business entity documentation for it in either of those states.
Districts are urged not to pay the invoice, but to instead file a complaint with the BBB at www.bbb.org. They can also contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877.382.4357 or www.ftc.gov, as well as contact their local postal inspector.