"I think it's a safe bet to say when there is a downturn in the economy, there's a surge of fraudulent activity," Butterworth said. "It is economy driven."
"Desperation may be a part of it," he added. "It's an area of vulnerability: people looking to get into homes, people looking to get out of homes."
Butterworth said anytime you are asked to wire money overseas it should be a red flag.
"You have to do your homework. Make a phone call. Get to know the individual. These sort of transactions, you would never want to do not face-to-face," he said. "You want to be able to shake the individual's hand. You don't want to conduct these things in the shadows."
To avoid being scammed:
Deal locally with people you can meet in person.
Never wire funds through a wire service.
Never give out financial information.
Most scams involve a foreign inquiry, inability to meet face to face and money orders, cashier checks, shipping and escrow services.
Look out for bad syntax and grammar -- does it look like something that appears to have been written by someone who is not a native English speaker.
Scammers also talk about their religion and faith in God.
"It's incumbent on you the individual to exercise your due diligence. Do the research, put in the effort, find out who you are dealing with," Butterworth said. "The truth of the matter is: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."
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