Beware the Certified Deed Scam

There is a new scam going around that I wanted to alert you to. It's called the "Certified Deed Scam," and here's how it works:

You receive an official looking letter in the mail from the "U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center," recommending that you have a certified deed on record, then pointing out that what you receive at closing (when you bought your home) is only a copy of the deed and not a certified copy. The company offers to provide you with a certified copy of your deed if you mail them a check for $69.50.

Fact is you don't need a certified copy of the deed unless an attorney tells you to get one for some reason, and if that happens you can get one at your county office for around $7.

This isn't an entirely new scam as I've run across reports of it going back almost three years, but I read about it in the newspaper last week and then actually received one of the letters in the mail on Friday. It's not illegal what they are doing, but a certified copy simply isn't necessary.
(more information at http://www.newsome.org/2005/10/ridiculous-offer.shtml)

I suspect there are people who fall for the scam, but hopefully now you'll know not to.