Valentine’s Day is less than a week away. While many people plan dates with significant others, look to get into the dating scene or simply want to let friends and family know that they care, scammers may unfortunately try to take advantage of the heightened communication around this special day. BBB wants you to be aware of 3 common scams that typically make an appearance during this time of year:

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Phishing attempts seem to change just as fast as the weather. Case in point, this week several consumers reported to BBB they received a message in their personal email inbox from "PayPal" titled "Unauthorized access on your PayPal account!" Of course if you're a PayPal user, this could turn on the panic button, but luckily one consumer did not own a PayPal account and knew it was fake. Here is what the message looks like:

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We normally think of phishing attempts as those that come through your email or from malicious websites, but they can also come from phone solicitations as well. Case in point, today we received an alert that several consumers have received automated phone calls telling them their credit or debit cards have been locked or temporarily suspended. Conveniently enough, the message also invites them to enter information over the phone to solve the problem. BBB warns this not to be done.

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Many people use TweetDeck to organize their Twitter lists and get automatic updates from those they follow. Lately, BBB has seen several messages populate Twitter telling TweetDeck users to download an update to the software. The messages include:

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As many Americans are seeking employment, BBB is warning job-seekers to watch out for red flags of employment scams to avoid losing money and sensitive information. Do your research to conduct a safe, fruitful job search.

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With more and more consumers making the switch to iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smartphones, security questions seem to be popping up regarding the applications you can download for each device. The obvious answer would be "if you're careful, everything will be fine," but BBB hears about scammers everyday that come up with clever ways to fool victims who take the right precautions.

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Several businesses across the US – including law firms, advertising agencies and architecture firms – have reported receiving a suspicious e-mail from the address seatac@bbb.org with the subject line “BBB Complaint Case #” followed by a nine-digit number. Both BBB Accredited and non-Accredited businesses have been targeted.

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