We recently received an alert from Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell that scammers have targeted Garden City residents with mass mailings urging homeowners to purchase a "certified copy" of the deed to their home. Clerk O'Connell wants to let residents know that all deeds for property located in Nassau County are recorded and maintained at the County Clerk's Office and only the Clerk's Office can issue certified copies of these records. Private companies often charge more than double the actual county fee and pocket the excess. Certified copies of deeds can always be obtained from the County Clerk's Office for $ 5 to $10. Anyone wishing to request a certified copy of their deed can contact Clerk O'Connell's office at 516-571-2664 for further information.

As a newspaper, we also see our share of scammers. At least once a week we receive suspicious-looking classified advertisements, which we just toss out. Some are so ridiculous that no one would ever fall for them. For example, there are several people in North Dakota who have sought to advertise their farm equipment in our classified ad section, using third party credit cards, and claim to only be able to communicate through email.

Another popular classified ad scam seems to involve the sale of puppies and kittens. The advertiser uses a stolen credit card number to place an ad, and then also victimizes consumers who try to buy the fictitious pets.

While we try to eliminate obvious scams and get rich quick schemes from our pages, readers should always act with caution when responding to ads, particularly if the deal seems "too good to be true."

Meg Morgan Norris

Publisher