There is a scam going on at the moment which unfortunately my husband got stung by yesterday. He is not stupid by any means and is a company director but so good is this con artist that he got caught. Coming out of car park in Coventry, an Italian man approached him with a story about how he was on his way back to Italy after attending a fashion conference at the NEC ( this conference did happen and La moda did exhibit there ) . He said he was a rep for la moda and he just had these 4 jackets left over at the end of the show. He was on his way to the airport and did not want to pay excess luggage to take them home but would my husband consider having them for the price of his hire car ( £260 ). the jackets looked good ( or the 2 he looked closely at ) and the guy was very plausible with a seemingly soft sell. He also showed him his passport and pictures of wife and family. He parted with the money and then rang me. As soon as i put reportage jackets into google it came up with scambusters website with similar stories from around the world. The jackets are PVC not leather and certainly not Armani. Please beware. If this post stops one of you falling for same then I have not wasted my time.

This is a scam where one or more persons approach the victim of a previous scam by phone or in person and pose as detectives investigating a loss. They convince the victim to withdraw money from the bank on the pretense that a bank employee is involved in the previous scam. The victim turns over the cash, receives a receipt, and is advised that the money would be redeposited in victim's account. The next day victim goes to update bankbook, then finds another scam was perpetrated on him.

A female may knock on the door and ask for a glass of water because she is not feeling well. When she is invited in, she goes into the kitchen and gets a glass of water, at which time another accomplice or two sneak into the house and go to the other rooms and take money, jewelry or whatever valuables they find.

If you have problems, don't let a fortune teller give you MORE problems!

Never mind what she calls herself -- Fortune Teller, Reader, Advisor or Seer . . . Medium, Healer or Spiritualist, Palm Reader, Card Reader or Psychic.

She is breaking the law, and she could "break" you if you give her a chance.

She claims to have wonderful powers. A sign in her front window or a card handed to you on the street tells you about her. You're told she can help you get a better job, make more money, win back someone you love or cure a serious illness. Just any kind of problem you may have.

She does this by reading your palm, cards or tea leaves.

But she deceives you. She's clever. She listens closely to what you say. If she finds out that you have money, she may explain that it takes time to help you. She tells you, for example, that you have cancer and that there is a big curse to be lifted or "evil spirits" to be driven away. She must exorcise the evil from your money.

And if you believe she's helping you, she persuades you to come again and again, charging more and more money each time.

She steals from you. If you don't watch out, she may also steal money or valuables from you.Or she gets you to play a switch game, where she switches you money for paper.

And she disappears. Her "work" is, of course, illegal. If she's afraid the police may investigate, she and her family simply move out--overnight if necessary.