Robert Howe, president of Title Company of the Rockies, was elected president of the Land Title Association of Colorado (LTAC) by the association’s membership during its 95th Annual Convention and Meeting held recently in Vail.

Based in Avon, Title Company of the Rockies has nine branch offices along with an affiliation with Northwest Title Company in Craig.

“I am honored to be a title insurance professional representing LTAC members across the entire State of Colorado,” Howe said in a statement. “I believe title companies are the engine oil that keeps the gears of the Colorado Real Estate Industry churning.”

Howe has worked for Title Company of the Rockies (TCR) for 14 years, joining the High Country based title agency in 2002 after a career in managing distressed real estate assets nationally.

TCR is the mountain division of the ET Investments, LLC family of title agencies, which is headquartered in Aurora and collectively they are one of the largest title insurance agencies in the country.

New bed and breakfast opens in Meeker

The Meeker Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony last week for the Bear Mountain Inn, a new bed and breakfast that is now open in Meeker. The business is located at 789 Eighth St. For more information, call the Bear Mountain Inn at 970-878-5482.

Be aware of fraudulent business activity

Spoofing is a favorite tool of fraudsters and scam artists who pose as the IRS, local judicial districts, law enforcement and legitimate businesses because they know many of us are in a hurry and answer our phones, open suspicious email and click unknown links even though we know better, stated a news release from the Better Business Bureau.

Here are three all-too-common scenarios:

• Caller ID indicates it’s a local call when in fact it’s a robocall generated thousands of miles away.

• You’re checking email and open one from your bank requesting that you verify your account information.

• You’re looking at a website of what you thought was a legitimate business only to learn later, after clicking a link that downloads a nasty computer virus, that it was a look-alike.

“It’s up to all of us to be vigilant when answering phones, responding to email and surfing online,” Shelley Polansky, vice president of communications for the BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming, said in a statement. “No one can afford to assume that a website, email or telephone call is from who it says it is.”

What can you do? BBB advises being both vigilant and skeptical.

• Use valid phone numbers and email addresses. Don’t rely on links or numbers listed in email to contact your credit card company or financial institutions. Instead, use contact information from the back of your card, a recent statement or the company’s official website.

• Don’t give out personal information in response to an incoming call. Identity thieves often pose as representatives of banks, credit card companies, creditors, or government agencies (IRS will not be calling) to get people to reveal their account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords and other identifying information.

• Be wary of phone numbers in online search ads. Frequently, the slots at the top and sides of search results are for sale. This means scammers can buy these spaces and use them to promote fake phone numbers.

For more consumer tips and information, visit bbb.org