The Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Mainland BC is urging businesses to stay on alert for what seems like an unscrupulous attempt to take your hard earned dollars or information.
BBB has received a number of reports from businesses saying they were contacted by an email or text that claimed that their trademark or company name was at risk of being lost. The business said that they were told that if they didn’t act fast and contact this business to get their name back or to defend the use of their trademark, that they could be out thousands of dollars in legal fees and lost profits.
Just recently a Metro Vancouver business shared their experience with an attempted trademark phishing scam to the BBB. Here is an excerpt of the scammers message to the business.
"Immediate action is crucial to protect your intellectual property rights and prevent any further unauthorized use of your brand name. We are prepared to swiftly proceed with filing your trademark application and opposing the applicant's registration on your behalf. Please understand that once the applicant's classes are paid for with CIPO, our ability to intervene effectively will be limited."
According to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), legitimate notices about Canadian trademarks will only come from the CIPO. Trademark scammers know this and will try to convince and assure you that they will handle all that pesky government paperwork on the businesses behalf.
"You have worked hard to protect your brand and trademark, so getting a message like this out of the blue, might be very frightening for a business," said BBB spokesperson Neesha Hothi.
"We want to remind businesses who are contacted to do your own research, and if you do feel like you need a trademark professional, start with a business who displays the sign of a better business, aka a BBB Accredited Business, who can help with these types of legal matters."
The BBB wants to help protect your business. Here are five tips on how to handle a potential scam:
Don’t let fear guide you
- Emails like this will often demand urgent action, can use aggressive language, and may even offer services at bargain prices. One common example is: “Click on the link or your account will be closed."
- Don’t allow such demands to scare you into action.
Always verify the message
- Devote time to doing your due diligence and verify the information that is being sent to you either on your own or get a second opinion with a trusted trademark lawyer. Find a reputable one on BBB.org.
Never send personal information to a suspicious email or stranger
- Scammers and phishers will ask for sensitive data, info, or login credentials and will bombard you with multiple unrelenting emails demanding this information.
Watch for inconsistencies and red flags
- Scammers use inconsistent grammar, unfamiliar greetings, aggressive language, and often sketchy email addresses. Look at the sender’s email address – if it’s a long string of numbers and letters that don’t make sense, or if the email address just doesn’t look right, it’s likely an impostor. Red flags such as spelling errors, generic greetings (ex: “Dear Member” instead of a name) and poorly written emails are signs of a potential scam.
- Read BBB’s tips on how to recognize a phony email for more information. And remember, any emails from the CIPO will have the "@ised-isde.gc.ca" domain name.
Hover your mouse over links without clicking to see if the address is truly from the corresponding address
- The URL in the text should match the URL that your mouse detects. If the two do not match, it is most likely a scam.
While email scams are growing, phishing can also be sent through the mail. They can look like official corresponding but ultimately are attempting to scam your businesses’ checkbook.
- Mail notices from the CIPO will come from this address: 50 Victoria St., Gatineau, QC, K1A 0C9.
- For an example of these mail scams, visit the CIPO website.
