Business & Real Estate

If your business is looking for IT support, be sure to do your homework before handing over any money. Since March, the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker has received more than 50 reports about a China-based firm that has tricked dozens of people out of anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000.

How the scam works

You are looking to hire a company to help develop software, set up a call center, build a website or perform other technology work. You see an ad online for an IT company with a strong track record and competitive prices.

Los Altos

73 Bay Tree Lane, Campi Trust to Guide 1031 LLC for $2,278,000

1865 Capistrano Way, Rusch Family Trust to A. & S. Binyamin for $2,230,000

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier

Bluestone Lane barista Jessica Punzalan, left, arranges pastries at the new cafe in downtown Los Altos as general manager Kate Kuhn looks on. The new Bluestone Lane location opened last week.

After months of preparation, Bluestone Lane Los Altos is open for business at 288 First. St., the former home of Voyageur du Temps.

Local residents gathered the morning of July 31 for the cafe’s grand opening. After Los Altos Mayor Lynette Lee Eng cut the ceremonial ribbon, Bluestone Lane staff served their first breakfast, featuring menu items like Avocado Smash, a variation on avocado toast, and sweet treats and pastries from Manresa Bread on State Street.

There is no shortage of promoters of wealth-building schemes.

Courtesy of SkinIQ

Mountain View-based SkinIQ, an online platform aimed at helping people manage skin conditions, plans to launch later this year. The team includes, from left, Geoff Seyon, co-founder and chief artificial intelligence officer; Clare Lee, product manager; Afsana Akhter, co-founder and CEO; and Janhavi Singhal, head of customer advocacy.

This column is Part 2 in a two part series focusing on artificial intelligence. Part 1 ran May 8.

I had the opportunity to interview Afsana Akhter, co-founder and CEO of SkinIQ – an artificial-intelligence-powered platform that helps people manage their skin conditions, starting with acne, with future plans to include other skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, melanoma and more.

Los Altos

643 Almond Avenue, Berg Trust to Hoch Family Trust for $3,750,000

447 Benvenue Avenue, S. & A. Stefant to Wong Trust for $3,500,000