The scam we uncovered on this week's Watchdog (27 October 2008) is as ingenious as it is insidious. Fleecing flat-hunters though is merely the latest version of a very old tune promising something over the rainbow, and, all too frequently, that yellow brick road wends its way back to Nigeria. Why? I'll try and answer that in a minute.
But right now let's look again at the classic 'Nigerian Email', scam as it's called.
4x4s are not everyone's favourite car, but sometimes you do need something tough and powerful. Nissan says its Navara pickup is designed to put you in control of every situation and that it's built to outperform. However, if you're among the thousands of people who bought one particular model, the chances are your Navara is not as tough as you thought, and the first you'll know about it, is when you hear a knocking noise from your engine.
Prepayment meters should be an ideal way of paying for electricity and gas on a budget - customers pay for their energy upfront in the same way as a pay-as-you-go mobile. That's why six million of us currently use them. But some prepayment customers are receiving a nasty surprise in the post - a bill for energy they thought they'd paid for in advance.
Every year thousands of people search the classified adverts looking for a place to rent, but Watchdog has received lots of complaints from viewers who've been scammed out of hundreds, even thousands of pounds while looking for a new home.
We had an incredible response to Watchdog's first report on hospital parking on this website a couple of weeks ago.
SkillsTrain provides distance learning courses in IT and book-keeping and claims it's Europe's largest computer training organisation. A SkillsTrain advert invites prospective students to board the skills train and "fast track to a new IT career". However, Watchdog has received nearly 200 complaints from students about their courses.
We take more than 56 million flights abroad every year and whether it's scheduled, budget or charter more than 250 companies now fly us in and out of the British airports every day.
This summer it seems that airlines, airports and air travel in general just couldn't keep out of the spotlight. Since January 2008, 13 airlines using UK airports have gone bust, affecting hundreds of British holidaymakers - though nowhere near as many as those caught up in the collapse of XL and Zoom. Both companies were seen as the first casualties of the credit crunch.
Finally, there's a break for consumers struggling with the highest inflation for 16 years!
The UK's supermarkets have reduced the price of petrol to below £1 per litre at some pumps, most banks are cutting interest rates, food prices are stabilising and the energy companies are, well, they don't seem to be doing anything at all.
With the property market in the doldrums, millions of us are wondering if our home is the secure investment it once was. But for David Robinson, there was a much more unusual reason to be worried.
As the results of our questionnaire made clear, the huge increase in the cost of our energy bills is a major concern for many of us. So it's good to know that you can still save up to 55 pound a year by changing the way you pay for your energy, and up to 300 pound a year if you switch your supplier as well.
So to our Ryanair story. Listen, if you can get a flight for even £4.01 that's great news for the consumer. We'll leave polar bears out of it for now but why say it's free? Ryanair is cheap and cheerful [sometimes] but maybe it could sometimes be a wee bit more... how can I put this? Honest?
The credit crunch is upon us - and don't we know it. Everywhere you turn there are gloomy reports of economic meltdown and financial crisis, and those two little words - credit crunch - have become a catch-all for everything that's hitting our pockets. But beyond all the headlines, how is the global financial turmoil affecting you, your family and your wallet?
Land of confusion? This disturbing story epitomises why Watchdog is here.
Some people had no idea until they watched the programme that their sofa could be the cause of a terrible rash.
It has been an exciting week here at Watchdog - we moved into our new office, which you'll be able to see in the first programme of our new series, on Monday 13 October. We'll be publishing all the video reports from the programme here on the website each week after they go out live on TV - and now as well as watching the reports online, you can comment on them too. So look out for them on our homepage after the show and share your stories. Maybe you've had a similar experience as the people in our films - or quite the opposite. Or perhaps you can offer other site users advice. Whichever, we want to know your experiences.
Fill up the car or the shopping trolley and it bites all right. Every one of us is affected in some way shape or form, so whether you're feeling a pinch, a squeeze or are totally suffocated by it, we want to hear from you so we can take a measure of how it's affecting Watchdog viewers, and try and help the nation get through it as best we can.
There's something particularly nasty about the scams that catch out three million of us every year. Have you been taken in by the latest, or spotted one you'd like to warn other people about?
Should you have to pay to park at a hospital? Hospitals in Scotland and Wales are scrapping their charges - so is it right that in England, patients, visitors and even doctors and nurses will still have to fork out?
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