The Better Business Bureau is normally at the helm of preventing scams, but recently, criminals have used the organization’s name to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.

“What it appears to be is an email regarding a complaint from the ‘BBB Abuse Department,’” said Melissa Companick, of the BBB.

Companick said there have been a rash of phishing emails sent out to small business owners. She said the emails claim to be from the BBB saying that someone filed a complaint.

“What it’s really trying to do is to get you to click on this link and then it’s installing malware on to your computer,” Companick said.

As with any email scam, the BBB scam isn't hard to avoid if some basic rules are followed.

First, check the email address to ensure it’s coming from the organization it claims to be. If any questions arise, contact the organization itself.

Second, do not click on email attachments unless they’re undoubtedly safe. If there’s any doubt they might be infected, take the computer offline until it’s fixed.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen all that often. We’ve had a couple of rashes recently. We do work with law enforcement to shut it down as soon as we can,” Companick said.