2018 was a year filled with important needs in our community, from families who needed supplies after Hurricane Florence, to those who needed assistance with holiday gifts for their children. Confero lent a hand.
Hurricane Florence Relief
When Hurricane Florence hit eastern North Carolina, our team packed 200 hygiene kits to send to a relief organization to help those in shelters.
Confero also sponsored the Better Business Bureau of Eastern North Carolina’s consumer info/anti-scam booklets that were printed and distributed in Eastern NC following the storm. These booklets warned consumers about fraudulent repair companies and how to best select companies to help with storm repair. A copy of the booklet can be downloaded here: https://www.bbb.org/globalassets/local-bbbs/raleigh-nc-66/bbb-natural-disaster-brochure.pdf
Stockings for Children
Our team annually prepares holiday stockings for the Salvation Army and we kept up the tradition in 2018. A Confero team of employees purchased stocking items, packaged them and donated 200 stockings to needy families in the Raleigh, NC area.
Confero also contributed to the Empty Stocking Fund in Lumberton NC, a city that was hit hard with a major hurricane and flooding twice within two years.
Fighting Scams and Fraud in the Mystery Shopping Industry
Confero also continued to work with consumers during 2018 to stop fake check scams, especially those targeting the mystery shopping industry. The entire mystery shopping industry has been targeted by fake check scams. In these scams, a consumer is contacted by email or phone offering a "mystery shopping" assignment in which they are to wire money or purchase gift card codes. Shoppers are sent a check that really does look real. It typically has the name of a reputable company – such as Confero – on the check. What happens is, the consumer deposits the check, wires the funds or buys the gift card codes. By the time the bank contacts the consumer to let them know the check is fake, the theives have obtained the wired money or gift card codes and are nowhere to be found. What makes these scams so believable is that they steal the names of REAL legitimate companies to make themselves look legitimate.
Confero posts a warning on our website every time we hear of these scams, so these scams will come up in web searches and warn consumers who have been targeted. We continue to work closely with BBB and MSPA-NA on scams and alerts to keep consumers safe.