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About three months ago, Iva Rabon, of North Kenai, received a $30,000 check from Central Bank of Nigeria. All Rabon had to do was deposit the check in her account, keep $3,000 for herself and send the rest back to the bank. After the remaining amount "cleared," the bank would send her back the money.

Although tempted, Rabon didn't cash the check. Something just didn't seem right to her.

"Nobody just gives people money," Rabon said.

Rabon contacted the Better Business Bureau about the check, and they confirmed it was a fake.

"It looked just like a real check," she said.

On Sept. 17, about two months after Rabon got the fraudulent check, she received an e-mail from the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the subject line, "FBI seeking to wiretap internet."

"This is pretty serious," Rabon thought. "I wonder what I did?"

Like the check, the e-mail was a fake. Someone claiming to be Robert Mueller, FBI executive director, sent the e-mail to Rabon. The letter said the FBI was aware of Rabon's transaction with Central Bank of Nigeria. The e-mail went on to say that the FBI "finally confirmed that your contract payment is 100% genuine and hitch free." Rabon's contract fund was for $8 million.

Two days later, Rabon received another fraudulent e-mail. This one was supposedly from Fredrick Wilson with the Central Bank/United Nations 2007 Compensations Payments Directive. The e-mail read, "Scam artists (are) operating in syndicates all over the world today. In order to retain the good image of the country, the president of the country is now paying 100 victims of this (operation) $300,000 USD each. You are listed and approved for this (payment) as one of the 100 selected scammed victims. Get back to us as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $300,000 compensation funds."

Scams, such as this, are ubiquitous today, said Niki Horace, director of marketing for the BBB in Anchorage. Horace said the BBB gets daily calls about fraudulent checks.

"They're everywhere and very, very common," she said.

If someone receives a check in the mail, they should research the company online, Horace said. A reliability report for suspicious checks can be conducted at http://bbb.org. The BBB also will perform the reliability report over the phone. They can be reached at 907-562-0704.

According to Horace, if a reliability report can't be found on a company, the company is probably made up.

A check should never be cashed before researching the company, Horace said. If cashed, the money will appear in the person's account, but when they go to send the money back to the fraudulent company, the funds won't be there anymore. Because the companies are nonexistent and they use offshore bank accounts, the company and money are untraceable, Horace said.

Typically, middle- to late-age adults are targeted with these types of scams.

Mike Nesper can be reached at mike.nesper@peninsulaclarion.com.