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JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Impersonation scams are on the rise according to the Federal Trade Commission. They said the crimes range from fake sweepstakes, overpayment check scams to call centers based in foreign countries that trick your caller I.D. to appear that they are calling from the U.S.

Crooks are impersonating everyone from tax collectors to non profit foundations.

Last year there were more than 100 impostor scams reported to the Missouri Attorney Generals office.

The Attorney General's Chief Counsel Doug Ommen said, "We have seen a general trend upward because of the fact that this is such anonymous method of committng a scam".

Ommen said scammers like to take advantage the elderly and poor because they often need the money. His office is investigating dozens of these check scams where someone is mailed a check, asked to deposit it in their account, and then withdraw cash and wire the money elsewhere. The checks are sometimes for thousands of dollars.

Consumers think its legitimate because the scams always tell you to keep some of the money. But when the check bounces, you've already wired the cash, and you're left with nothing.

Ommen said, "We've had reports of consumers who have gone to their bank teller and said 'I received this in the mail' and their have been suggestions by the teller they're legitimate. Thats a real problem if bank tellers and others are confused by that appearance of legitimacy, it says they are pretty good frauds."

We went to our local Central Bank to ask how often they see these check scams. They said they're always looking out for these checks, and generally they're easy to spot because of the unusual figure of about three thousand dollars. Central Bank said they keep a list of banks and account numbers the scammers like to use, and they can tell within minutes if a check is real.

The A.G's office said its best to live by this one simple rule.

Ommen said, "There is no better rule in a situation like this than if it looks to good to be true it is, not it probably is, it is."