Even though many Americans were out of work, there was no recession for scam artists in 2009, and the BBB expects they'll continue many of their schemes into the new year.

Read on to learn about some of the top scams of the last year.

The BBB advises consumers who want to donate to charities providing relief to victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti to check out the charity with the BBB first. Fraudulent charities often crop up to take advantage of sympathy for earthquake victims.

The BBB is advising consumers to be extremely cautious when dealing with Peel, Inc., a company in Evanston, Ill., that operates websites that sell coffee, posters and jewelry. Among them are shopdani.com, which sells jewelry; seattlecoffeedirect.com, which sells coffee; and especially posters.com or posterpass.com, both of which sell a variety of types of posters. As of this week, those sites said they were not accepting new orders.

The temptation to get an income tax refund quickly may prompt some taxpayers to take out a refund anticipation loan. However, the loans carry high interest rates and fees, and consumers may get their money in less than two weeks from the Internal Revenue Service.

The BBB of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois is looking for companies and charities that exemplify exceptional ethics in their operations and dedication to serving their customers, employees, suppliers and their communities. Customers may nominate companies and charities or they may nominate themselves.

Eight months after the BBB first warned consumers about SVT, Inc., of Columbia, Mo., customers still complain that the company tricked them into buying by saying a purchase already had been authorized by officers of the companies they called. Other customers complained that SVT overcharged them or delivered huge quantities of supplies they didn't want.

Home Service USA of Florida has been soliciting Missouri and Illinois residents, asking them to buy insurance to cover emergency repairs to water lines. However, most St. Louis County residents are already covered through their water bills, and many have complained that Home Service's letters were misleading.

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