14 Halloween financial horror stories
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10. Undead debt collector
I don't know if you would consider this a scam or not. I had a tobacco shop in Selbyville, Del. that I had to close on Feb. 12, 2007. I called "Haunted Home Security" to discontinue service. I paid my bill for January, February and March of 2007. Now they are telling me I owe for April, May and June.

I was not there and requested them to stop service. They do not even have a contract with my name on it. I had been taking care of the store for two years. By the way, they now have a collection agent after me. I wrote him and told him exactly what I told you and he still continues.

11. Wallet weight loss
Prior to the mass hysteria caused by many elaborate scams today, about 15 years ago or so, I practically lived in the weight room of the gym. One day, a bogus vitamin company called me and said I qualified for a discount of mega vitamins, making the price basically free. The cost was $29.99, but I had to mail them $685 for shipping and handling for a two-month supply. Fortunately, I saw right through this scam. But I could have been a victim under different circumstances because vitamins and supplements aimed toward body building can be costly.

12. Fake sports memorabilia
A few years ago my son and I went to a fundraiser for cats in Stamford, Conn. They had a silent auction of sports memorabilia. My son took the two (autographed) baseballs he won to a local store and (the store owner) said he did not believe that they were authentic.

I wrote a letter at the time to the organization and they forwarded it to the seller. The seller's response was that they were real, yet he never provided the certificate of authenticity and was quite insulted that we questioned his integrity.

Then, a year or so ago, I purchased a basketball signed by Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson through "Shadowy" Auctions. It was a gift for my son, so months later I gave it to him and he said, "This does not look authentic, you should get your money back."

So I write an e-mail to to the auction house -- this is the second bad dealing with them -- and they said they would contact the seller. The seller contacts me and said she bought them at a flea market and the certificate was sent, and refused to refund my money. I forwarded the e-mails to the auction house and their response was that there was nothing they could do.

Recently the sports shop had an authentication service come to the store to authenticate items for a fee, and I paid $250 to be told that all of them are frauds. What is worse, I have no recourse to get my money back. What is even more sad is that the fundraiser was (sponsored by) a sports memorabilia company.

13. The company that vanished
Someone has ripped me off. Last year when I wasn't working and needed to get some money together, I took my large doll collection (all in mint condition and stored in original boxes) as well as some other valuable collectibles -- all in perfect condition -- to an outfit that sells them for you on eBay. I didn't have Internet service -- couldn't afford it. Guess what?

Apparently they closed up. They never bothered to notify me -- and they took my property. I called the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Florida, where this occured, to make a police report and was told they couldn't make a report because I had a contract with that business. Is this a great country or what? If I had a police report, I guess I could put this loss down on my tax return. Sheez!