Local businesses target of collection scam

The organization issued a statement Wednesday warning about a man and woman who are approaching businesses, claiming to be collecting donations for BBBS. Executive Director Lisa Slavens said she has reported incidents at Primrose Marketplace and at Ted E. Bear’s Toy Factory, 1839 E. Independence St., Suite W, to the police and to Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office.

In the incident at Ted E. Bear’s, co-owner Sheryl Jones said in an e-mail that a man going by the name of Christian entered her store Tuesday and said he was part of a mentoring program with BBBS.

The man said he was trying to set up meetings between businesspeople and the 16-year-old girl he is mentoring to help her learn about the working world. He also asked Jones to purchase a magazine subscription, which he said would be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Jones became suspicious when she agreed to make a donation, but the man would only accept cash and could not provide a business card or an identification card as a mentor for BBBS, she said in the e-mail.

BBBS is asking businesses to report incidents of the scam to police at (417) 864-1810. The organization also asks that anyone who has made a recent donation or committed to a sponsorship of BBBS to call its office at (417) 889-9136 to verify the validity of the donation.