But watch out! That escrow service could be bogus, set up by a con artist to steal your money. And there are hundreds of these fake escrow sites out there.

"So once you wire the money to that fake escrow service, the money is gone," says Bob Sullivan, technology correspondent for MSNBC. "They're off and running and you'll never see the money or the plasma television or frankly a couple of days later they site will be gone, too."

Sullivan has interviewed victims who've lost tens of thousands of dollars this way. He says the fake escrow sites look completely legitimate. So what's the tip off that you're about to be ripped off? "You get an e-mail from someone and they insist on using a single escrow service and they really steer you toward one place, that's usually a bad sign," Sullivan says.

Sullivan says you're safe using a company called escrow.com, as long as you're sure you're dealing with the real escrow.com. The way you do that--never click on a link in an e-mail. You should go to the site yourself.

For More Information:

msnbc.msn.com

www.natlconsumersleague.org