The saying goes: If it sounds too good to be true, it prob- ably is. In the business world, this translates to, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." As adults, we are leery of any- thing free, but the child in us gets excited at the dream of getting something for noth- ing. It is that aspect that has allowed a very dirty, but very profitable industry to prosper; the industry of advance-fee fraud. I, and most other people I imagine, first came into con- tact with this unscrupulous industry with the advent of the internet and email. It came in the form of a letter of distress, now known as a Ni- gerian Scam e-mail. The mes- sage usually comes from some supposed dignitary in an em- bassy abroad and this person has access to some ungodly sum of money that has be- come available because of a deposed leader or an unstable government. All the sender wants is to be able to transfer millions of dollars into your bank account and youll be able to keep a very handsome amount of money for your self. Of course they'll need your bank account number to perform the transaction, or better yet, have you set up an account off shore that they can access and all the glory will be yours. They say a fool and his money are soon parted. These Nigerian schemes also prove that there's a sucker born ev- ery minute. Knowing this, we try to educate as many people as we can about the nature of the beast and that no one is looking to give away money. In Tampa there is still an ongo- ing scam where scam artists approach elderly Spanish- speaking people in parking lots to bilk them out of their money. They pretend to have a winning lottery ticket but do not have the means to cash it for fear of being deported for being illegal immigrants. They trick these sympathetic souls into giving them money for these bogus lottery tickets which at the displeasure of the mark, cannot be cashed. But what about those who aren't fools? I know a woman who is quite careful with her money, but she has a little bit of an adventurous spirit when it comes to games of chance. Shell play the lottery every once in a while and will throw her hat in the ring for the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes. She operates under the thought that there are plenty of scam artists out there, but as long as she is careful, she won't get ripped off. So one day, she receives a letter from a sweepstakes clearing house that she won about a half million dollars. Not too bad a score, but she wasn't entirely sure about the fact she actually won because the letter read that a repre- sentative would be coming by to deliver the money but she needed to call the company with a series of numbers they supplied to verify her winning entry. I immediately thought it to be a scam, but the letter was on Publisher's Clearing House letterhead and on the surface the letter looked le- gitimate. I called the number listed to get more information for my newly rich friend. The person on the line seemed to be of Indian decent and asked me a series of questions re- garding the letter and then informed me that a spokes- person would be coming by with a check. I said great, but then she informed me of the formality of insurance. They would need her to wire them $450 for insurance before they could release the check. Of course this was a ridicu- lous premise and we declined, which led to them not deliv- ering the half-million dollars. We felt good about exposing this scam, but we made a grave mistake along the way. We made the phone call. By just humoring them and mak- ing the call seemed to put her on a list created purely for people who have the pos- sibility of getting duped. She now receives mountains full of mail with notifications of winnings from sweepstakes, lotteries and contests. All of them tell her she's a winner and all of them have a catch: they need money first. A clever new scam she's been invited to involves the company informing her she has won over six million dol- lars. In this letter they send her a check for $2,500. This check is to cover the $2,000 insurance and $500 is for her to keep. What they want her to do is take the check to her bank and deposit it, then call the company for further instructions. On the phone, they instruct her to withdraw $2,000 of $2,500 check and wire the money to them so that they may release the check. Another scam of course, but the check is actu- ally a perfect counterfeit. It's drawn from a real company's bank account and is printed on watermarked checks. The tell tale sign that this was a scam was that the company's name on the check was not the same as the prize issuing company. They took a legiti- mate company's checks and duplicated them fraudulently. Its simplicity is brilliant, but it's getting bolder and bolder. So the natural question is, Kiersten Michelle Bialo- zynski was baptized at Palma Ceia United Method- ist Church. The gown was made for Kiersten by Nor- ma Pasetti. She wore a gold cross and a gold bracelet worn by her grandmother and her mother. Jenni- how do they get away with it? Long story short... Canada. Most of these scam artists op- erate out of Canada and are out of the reach of U.S. au- thorities. Speculation is that eventually there will be a way to catch these scum bags, but in the mean time, education is the best weapon against be- ing taken. Most importantly to remember is that no one is waiting around to give you free money, and if you do hap- pen to win a contest, drawing or sweepstake, it is illegal to charge any amount of money in order to receive money. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has some very useful in- formation for would be victims to protect themselves. Some valuable tips include. Don't pay to collect sweep- stakes winnings. If you have to pay to collect your winnings, you haven't won anything. Le- gitimate sweepstakes don't re- quire you to pay "insurance," ThePRESERVE 0Iowope AT ALAFIA 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Brand New" Located at 1-75 and Gibsonton Drive ardent me Apartment Homes Spectacular Views of the Alafia River! 6 different floor plans obJ3to choose from Move in by June 30th and Save! * Gated Entrance Designer Kitchens * Garage & Covered Parking * Over 1500 Feet of Riverfront * Waterfront Clubhouse & Pool . Canoe & Kayak available Nature Trails CALL US TODAY! www.ThePreserveAtAlafia .Gn alafialeasing@pregllc.com fer and Dean Bialozynski hosted a gathering of family and friends at their home. The grandparents are Aida and Michael Rizzo, Mike Bi- alozysnki. Great-grandpar- ents, Aurora Rizzo and the late Angelo Rizzo, Manuel and Gloria Perez. "taxes" or "shipping and han- dling charges" to collect your prize. Hold on to your money. Scammers pressure people to wire money through commer- cial money transfer companies like Western Union because wiring money is the same as sending cash. If you discover you've been scammed, the money's gone, and there's very little chance of recovery. Likewise, resist any push to send a check or money order by overnight delivery or- cou- rier. Con artists recommend these services so they can get to your money before you real- ize you've been cheated. Look-alikes aren't the real thing. It's illegal for any pro- moter to lie about an affiliation with or an endorsement by - a government agency or any other well-known organiza- tion. Disreputable companies sometimes use a variation of an official or nationally recog- nized name to try to confuse you and give you confidence in their offers. Insurance com- panies, including Lloyd's, do not insure delivery of sweep- stakes winnings. Phone numbers can de- ceive. Some con artists use Internet technology to call you. It allows them to disguise their area code: although it may look like they're call- ing from Washington, DC or your local area, they could be calling from anywhere in the world. More information can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/ bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/ alerts/altl67.shtm 'The Costantino family has been doing business in Ybor City since 1906" IL FRAN COSTANTINO BROKER COSTANTINO &RD COMPANY REAL ESTATE SERVICES 2216 4TH AVE. E. TAMPA, FL 33605 PHONE: 813 241-6767 FAX: 813-241-6868 LA GACETA/Friday, May 6,2011/Page 15 Common Cents S i .-