Recession scams..

Recession scams
by Hasti Taghi

IDAHO FALLS - "Well my husband works for a car dealership so we didn't know where things were going there. So we just wanted a little extra income, something to put into savings, to help pay the bills," says Ellie Dahl, scam victim.

And that's what made Dahl fall for a work-at-home scam. When she saw an ad in the Post Register advertising for a stay at home job, she couldn't resist. The Company, DR LTD Mail Express asked her to be a sort of "middle-man" for shipping electronics overseas. A few e-mails later, and Dahl was an employee. In exchange for her social security number, drivers license and other personal information, she received two packages to be sent overseas. After shipping the first one, she got a call.

"It turned out that they were all purchased by fraudulent credit cards," says Dahl.

Dahl know she had fallen for a scam. She called the Better Business Bureau and the FBI. Although no money was exchanged yet, her fear is, the company may open a credit card in her name. Work at home scams are some of the most popular in the current economy.

"They're falling more prey and these scams are a little more appealing. They want very much to believe it," says Donna Oe, BBB.

Other scams popping up recently, stimulus bill money scams, loan scams, and lottery scams.

"We did a large piece on Publisher's Clearing House. They're starting to get wiser, these scammers, using names that have been around for years, consumers kind of trust in that," says Oe.

So how can you protect yourself? By checking up on the company. The e-mails Dahl received didn't have any sort of address or phone number and when I google the company on line, there's nothing.

"Ask questions, lots of questions. If it's legitimate, they'll be only too happy to give you that information, if it's not, you'll get hung up on," says Oe.

"So when they see something like this that sounds too good to be true, what should they think?" asks reporter Hasti Taghi
"That it's too good to be true," says Dahl.