Even as the public becomes more aware of Web-based scams and how to avoid them, thieves have become more adept at creating scenarios to get money from people.

To that end, the FBI has issued a list of the top four Internet scams used in 2007.

The top item was a scam in which an advertisement for a pet for sale is listed. Once the person attempts to buy the animal, the scammer keeps the money without sending the animal, according to the FBI.

While most are aware of the Internet scams, but there are still those who are scammed out of money, said Officer Barry Pruitt, spokesman for the Bowling Green Police Department.

“There are still a lot of the same old scams out there that crooks are simply putting a new spin on,” he said.

One of those is taking advantage of real events, such as the coming economic stimulus payments from the Internal Revenue Service, Pruitt said. Meanwhile, a secret shopper scam cited by the FBI is an example of one some have fallen for locally, Pruitt said.

Secret shopper scams involve a person being hired online to rate experiences while shopping or dining. The victim is paid by check – which will inevitably bounce – and asked to wire a portion of the money to a third party, according to the FBI. As part of this scam, the thieves will often illegally use real logos from legitimate companies.

Adoption and charity scams are also being done frequently, according to the FBI. In these cases, the scam artists often use real charities, but the money is actually going to a con artist. They’re designed to “tug on your heartstrings,” according to the FBI.

An example of this recently sent to Pruitt’s city police e-mail read, “What prompted this deal is because I have a 9-year-old daughter who has leukemia, blood cancer. She needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life. I want this transplanting done in any good hospital in your country. I shall resign from my job and bring my family to start a new life in your country when this transfer is done.”

There have not been any reports of local victims for this type of online scam, Pruitt said.

Scams involving online dating or social networking sites are the fourth listed by the FBI, and a type that will continue to increase, Pruitt said.

“I have read that in 2008, one of eight people who get married met online,” he said.

At least one local woman was conned by a man overseas. They had been chatting online for a long time and then she wired him money to come see her, Pruitt said.

“She thought he was going to come here and they were going to start a new life together,” he said. “She quickly learned that it was all a scam.”

These people are willing to groom the victim for a long time before asking them for money, Pruitt said. The conversations are very casual and they slowly build the relationship.

The police department has warned the public about various scams in all sort of media outlets to gain their attention, Pruitt said, “but people are trusting by nature. They ignore all the red flags that go up in cases like this.”

Nationally, Internet fraud resulted in losses of more than $240 million, according to the FBI. Yet there have not been many complaints in western Kentucky about Internet scams, said James Hendricks, supervisory senior resident agent for the FBI in Bowling Green.

“I attribute the declining number of complaints to the public educating themselves about the types of scams available on the Internet,” he said.