Scams are not just for little old grandmotherly defenseless types whom live alone on a desolate street. Oh yes, the scam artist can target even legitimate and smart small business. The artist is usually a crafty mind with not much financial backing that thinks he's been wronged by the system. Watch out, the sharks are out there in many forms and sizes and if you're not on the ball you'll be thrown and taken.

Sharks, like thieves, come in many sizes with the common factor of razor sharp teeth and insatiable appetites. There are usually key words to watch for from even the best pitches. Be wary if you get a phone call from a company who insists they currently deal with you and are updating their records. Typically there will be a few benign questions but the more you answer the more sensitive information you will reveal.

Recently, I received a call from a company saying they were the online directory for Verizon and needed to verify my information. It was suspicious that they did not know my name, which is public knowledge and connected to my business account on Verizon's records. But the more they insisted that they did not have my information the more I just didn't believe they were trying to "help clarify the listing."

I was convinced of my gut feeling as the phone line suddenly went dead when they said they now needed to record the conversation and I would receive a free ad for my compliance. The dial tone came when I suggested just answering the questions online myself from the Verizon site. I guess the answer was, "No." Scammers don't seem to like questions much, so the best advise is to question everything.

Of course, there are the folks who walk into your establishment and try to pass off questionable currency when you're too busy to take notice. But, do take that extra second to make sure or this could happen to you.

It was a day like any other as I walked into my local bank to deposit some meager earnings from my business. The deposit slip was properly completed with all figures added to the penny. The bills were flat, neatly counted and all facing dark side up in the same direction.

As I handed my small stack of cash and business checks to the teller she greeted me with the usual recognition and pleasant eye contact. We chatted a little as we both recounted the money on the counter, twenty, forty, sixty, eighty; then continuing ten, twenty, thirty, to an abrupt stop.

"This is counterfeit," she proclaimed in a stern voice. Her words seemed larger even than the bank to me at that moment of shock and embarrassment.