If you're like me... you're all of a sudden the most popular person on the planet.... winning one sweepstakes after another and getting secretive emails from complete strangers asking for your help in stashing huge amounts of cash.
There's a reason for that. Crooks watch the news, too.
They know in tough economic times... you may be more vulnerable.
Teresa Hearty received a recent round of emails and was intrigued. She says, "Everybody's broke right now... so money could help, you know."
Hearty heard from an alleged Army sergeant in northern Iraq.
Michael Wilson claims he found an Al-Qaeda dumpsite stacked with cash and needed someone to hang onto it.
To give the scam some legitimacy a couple of old news articles are attached. They say American soldiers really have found millions of U.S. dollars in Iraq.
Officials at Fort Carson say don't be fooled.
They say, as part of the chain of custody... any cash found by soldiers is turned over to the staff judge advocate... who hands over the money to the Iraqi government.
This is just one of thousands of scams circulating these days.
Carol O'Dell with the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado says crooks are working overtime.
O'Dell warns, "There are more scams out there because they know that people are vulnerable and they have the technology to reach them and so they reach them in all different ways."
Just remember these kind of cash deals always have strings attached. Once you contact the operators they'll eventually ask you to front some of the expenses to prove you're a true associate.
Not only will you lose money, but they might steal your identity as well.
If you get a hot sweepstakes offer... or scheme you want us to check out... just send it our way.