People are still falling victim to scams despite the efforts of law enforcement officers and advocacy groups to warn the public of them.

A Minneapolis woman is worried she may fall victim to identity theft after leaving her Social Security number with a Bowling Green company.

Barbara Chapman found an advertisement about jobs with the U.S. Postal Service on www.CareerBuilder.com. She called the number and the company charged her $94.40 for materials to help with a test for the postal service. The spokesperson on the phone promised a full refund if Chapman failed the test, Chapman wrote in an e-mail to the Daily News.

The company, Testing & Careers With US, is located at 2531 Russellville Road. It sells scholastic prep courses, along with the books and materials for those courses.

While ordering the packet, the company asked for her address, credit card number and Social Security number, which she gave to them.

State Police warn people about these types of situations but people still believe the deals are too good to pass up, said Trooper Todd Holder, public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police in Bowling Green.

&#8220People always think they can get something for nothing and those who think that way always pay the price,” Holder said.

Testing & Careers With US is not doing anything that’s illegal or making promises it can’t keep, he said. However, the civil service exam isn’t a pass/fail test; takers simply receive a score, he said. The company is just providing information for a fee that anyone can get for free.

People need to realize they don’t have to pay for materials to apply for federal jobs, Holder said.

The Better Business Bureau Inc. gives Testing and Careers an unsatisfactory record &#8220due to its failure to substantiate or modify advertising claims.”

There have been 14 complaints against the company since its file was opened in February 2005. The company has resolved all of these issues but one.

The company had two complaints against it in 2005, said Vicki Glass, a spokeswoman with the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. Both were resolved by the company with the consumer receiving payment.

&#8220We always recommend that consumers not give their Social Security number to anyone over the phone, not even banks, because that’s not necessary information,” she said.

Chapman has been advised to have her credit checked with all three credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on her accounts, Glass said.

She was also encouraged to review the attorney general’s office identity theft victim’s kit for additional information, Glass said.

U.S. government jobs can be applied for online at www.usajobs.gov or directly through the U.S. Postal Service at www.usps.gov. Neither site advertises the sale of any sort of study materials for the civil service test, which must be taken by all federal job applicants.

CareerBuilder.com also advertises jobs directly for the postal service.

E-mail lottery and sweepstakes scams are still out there, said Maj. Roger Osborne, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department representative on the Triad board.

Triad includes senior organizations, the Bowling Green Police Department and the sheriff’s department, and attempts to educate seniors about schemes designed to take advantage of them and safety issues.

An example of this type of scam is an e-mail this week from a Lebanese widow seeking help with making investments using money she found in her dead husband’s safety deposit box.

She offers the recipient 25 percent of the funds if they will just send their home and cell phone numbers along with their full name and address. The e-mail says an attorney would them help them establish an account to transfer the funds.

Police say never trust such e-mails.

And although it’s cold now, homeowners can soon expect traveling workers to come into the area and offer substandard home repairs, Osborne said.

While there still are some people falling victims to scams, Osborne thinks the numbers are fewer.

&#8220Our efforts to educate seniors have been successful. I think seniors are better informed here than they are in other areas,” Osborne said. &#8220Not only the efforts of Triad but also the individual efforts of the Bowling Green Police Department and the sheriff’s department have helped to protect (them).”