Nancy Chies and her husband don't know how they ended up on the preferred scam customer list. Earlier this year, the Fridley couple got a "check" for $3,950, drawn on a North Carolina power company's account. A letter supposedly from a Massachusetts company told them they won $50,000 in a British lottery but needed to call someone in Canada before sending $3,950 to London for "taxes."

A week later, they got another "check," this one for $4,885, for taxes to collect $250,000. People do fall for these scams. The Chieses ignored them.

Yet the phone rings every other day for Lester Chies. A man says that a package from Washington will be delivered to the home by FBI agents and …

"When I'm home and I hear this going on, I take the phone and tell him to get a life," Nancy Chies said.

How often do scammers pay a visit to your home?