Better Business Bureau warns of Portland company sending fake invoices
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Better Business Bureau Northwest and Pacific is issuing a warning about a business operating as Sports Media, based in Portland. This F-rated business operates nationwide and claims to offer advertising opportunities centered around a local school’s sports team.
In a continuing investigation that began in September of 2017, BBB recognized a pattern of complaints regarding advertising, delivery and customer service issues.
These complaints allege that Sports Media approached businesses to sponsor a local high school team through advertising on a “team-related” piece of collateral.
Later, the advertisers find that the school has never agreed to the advertising and has not seen any proceeds. Also, they cannot find proof of the production or distribution of the items.
Some allege that they continue to be charged annually without their permission and Sports Media is unresponsive to requests to cancel.
BBB also receieved complaints from business owners who have never heard of the company nor agreed to any advertising. These new complaints match the same narrative of repetitive billing for services that have neither been approved nor provided by Sports Media.
In the past three years, BBB has received over 100 reviews and complaints that match this pattern of fraudulent billing. Despite numerous attempts by BBB to contact Sports Media on each occasion, the business has yet to respond.
Sports Media operates under several alternate names in many other states, such as Sports Media Group Intl, All Sports Media LLC, Team Sports Media Maui LLC, Signature Sports, and Team Sports Media LLC.
Better Business Bureau advises the following steps to prevent fraudulent billing.
- Research businesses before contracting them for services. Look for a physical address of the company as well as researching the area code to make sure it coincides with the physical address.
- Check online complaints and reviews at BBB.org.
- When an invoice comes in, confirm that services were completed in full by the business seeking payment.
- Keep invoices and documentation of paid bills for at least three years.
Where to file a complaint:
- Consumers can file complaints with Better Business Bureau.
- Additional authorities include the Federal Trade Commission and the Oregon Department of Justice.
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ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. In 2017, people turned to BBB more than 160 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including BBB Northwest & Pacific, which serves more than 15 million consumers in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Hawaii, and Western Wyoming.
