Conducting business over the phone is routine at Mountain States Tent & Awning in Loveland. So when the business received a call via a hearing-impaired TTY (telephone text yoke) service, the ordering process was set into action.

But the transaction for six flagpoles was anything but ordinary. In fact, it turned out to be a scam.

According to the Mountain States Better Business Bureau, businesses across the country are receiving orders for large quantities of merchandise from unknown customers, often using a TTY service and stolen credit card numbers. The buyer typically wants the merchandise shipped to an out-of-state or out-of-country address by the fastest possible method. And, they want to pay by credit card. The merchandise is shipped to the buyer's address and the business finds out later that the credit card number used by the buyer is either fraudulent or stolen. In the end, the business loses money and the merchandise.

In the case of Mountain States Tent & Awning, the customer, after perusing an e-mailed list of available flagpoles, chose six of the most expensive ones, each costing $1,464. The customer said they were being purchased for a charity home in Ghana. He requested that they be shipped from the supplier to the Loveland business and he would arrange for a trucking company to handle transporting them to Ghana.

He also asked that both the the cost of the poles and the shipping charges from Loveland to Ghana be run through his credit card. And then he requested that the shipping charges, or $3,690, be sent via Western Union or a money gram directly to the trucking company "to get the paperwork started." He also sent an e-mail supposedly from the trucking company.

But things weren’t adding up. Mary Lee Wray, who works as a secretary at Mountain States Tent & Awning, mentioned it in a conversation with the Wisconsin supplier, who in turn remembered reading about similar scams involving an “Alfredo.” That was the name of the customer Wray was supposedly dealing with. It was all she needed to know she was being scammed.

“If you get an unusually large order, or don’t normally do business internationally, take the time to check it out first," Wray advised. "If it’s legitimate, the caller won’t mind. If not, you won’t get caught in a scam. If something doesn’t feel quite right, listen to that feeling, Call the BBB!”

The BBB also suggests that businesses take the following steps to protect themselves:

• If the customer is using a TTY Relay Operator, ask the customer for his/her full name, address and telephone number.
• Ask the customer to provide the name of the issuing bank and its toll-free customer service number as printed on the back of all credit cards.
• Ask the customer for the three or four digit Card Verification Code that is found near the account number on the back or front of a credit card.
• Tell the buyer that you will check with the bank and call them back. When you do that, keep good notes. Verify all information the buyer gives. If a buyer objects, explain that these procedures are for their protection as well.
• If the caller still objects to providing any of the above information, abandon the conversation and advise that you are not prepared to do business this way.
• If the buyer insists on paying with a certified check, wait until the funds are in your bank account, before shipping the merchandise.

Additional tips for businesses and consumers can be found at www.mountainstates.bbb.org, or phone the BBB at 970-484-1348 or 800-564-0371.