LOXLEY, Ala. — One line of work that hasn’t seemed to suffer during these bad times is scams. It seems that every time you open your e-mail, look at TV or answer the phone there’s somebody with an almost too-good-to-be-true offer.

Trouble is, it’s probably a scam. The person on the other end of the line or at your door is after one thing — your hard-earned money.

“You don’t have to be Bernie Madoff to be a successful scammer,” said Russell Watson in a telephone interview. The Loxley resident and Bay Minette attorney is with the firm Ball, Koons, and Watson in Bay Minette. Watson says he’s also the prosecutor for the Town of Loxley. Watson addressed the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s "Third Thursday” program recently.

Watson pointed out that while Madoff’s activities have garnered headlines, a successful scam artist is willing to take a lot less, but do more volume.

“The successful scammer has figured out it’s easier to get $20 from 100 people than it is to get thousands from thousands of people,” Watson said. And most victims are too embarrassed or reluctant to let law enforcement know they’ve been scammed. So the scammer gets away to prey on someone else.

While scams come in all shapes and forms, the one he’s seeing the most of is a variation on the “Nigerian Businessman” scam that should be familiar to most Internet users. There are lots of variations on the fraud, but most involve a plea or a request to transfer large sums of money into your personal accounts. They are having some sort of banking problem and your reward for helping out is the interest you will receive for having all that money in your account. All you have to do is provide them the information they need to transfer the money in.

Feel like a Rockerfeller?

Trouble is, that with that information, the scammer can drain your account.

Head to the poorhouse. Do not pass GO. See what helping the wrong person can get you?

And while it’s common to assume hat a scammer’s victims are mostly isolated elderly people, Watson says that’s not necessarily so — he’s seen law firms fall for scams.

“They have scams where you see that President Obama has has ordered banks to give loans, and if you pay us a fee, we’ll be sure to get you a loan. The trouble is, you can’t borrow yourself out of debt, and you don’t pay a fee for something you can do yourself,” said Watson.

The best protection, says Watson is time to think about the “deal” and talking to someone you trust.

“There’s no transaction or deal that can’t wait seven days,” said Watson. That’s his first rule to avoid getting scammed. The second and third rules are also easy.

“The next rule is to talk (about the deal) with someone you know and trust,” said Watson. This can be a relative, a business person, an attorney or a banker. Often running the “deal” by someone else will help you find pitfalls in the arrangement.

The final piece of advice is to, “Know 100 percent who you are dealing with,” said Watson. “This should not be some nameless, faceless person on the phone or Internet.

“The important this is know what they do, be prepared to hang up and tell people to get off your doorstep. Use the “delete” key on your computer.” added Watson.