We have a scam to warn you about in tonight's Fact Finder Report. One of our viewers got caught in the trap. She couldn't believe how low the crooks had sunk to try to steal her money. But what's worse, is that you and I are paying for the scam.

Sometimes we all wish we could tune out the noise of the world. But communicating with out it would be nearly impossible for most of us.

Leanne Baumeler, Deaf Services Coordinator with Grand Traverse Industries says, "You and I can just pick up the phone and call, but for people with hearing loss it gets a lot more complicated. They have to plan ahead, choose a relay service even if it's just to order a pizza."

The deaf and hearing impaired rely on tax payer funded relay services to help. They type with a special phone, or texting program to a relay representative who acts as a go between for the deaf person and the hearing person on the other line.

Scam victim Thresa Hill says, "It's a good service to use. How else do they communicate with people?" Hill knows it well. She works at a local auto dealer and occasionally takes calls from the deaf. But a recent relay call took a turn and raised her suspicions. There were just too many red flags, weird questions about credit cards, from far off locations.

While she wanted to give the caller the benefit of the doubt, she realized what she was hearing loud and clear was likely a scam and that message wasn't getting lost in translation.

Hill says, "I'm disgusted. Actually it makes me angry. These services are for people with disabilities to help, not to scam with."

Baumeler says, "It's just ruining it for the people who use that technology and already they're having a hard time getting through now people are going to be less likely to listen to legitimate phone calls."

So how can you stay safe? I checked with the FCC, they say one of the most effective tools is relying on behavioral clues; basically trust your gut instinct. That's just what Thresa did. In the end it just sounded too fishy so she hung up and called the FCC to report it. 

Keep in mind the relay representative is bound by confidentiality rules to only act as an interpreter for the caller and cannot answer any direct questions from you and the interpreter also can't alert you if they think the caller is a scam artist. 

Here's something else interesting. The relay service is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and paid for through taxes. It's free to callers and that means it's also free to scammers.

There is also some buzz out there that while phone companies know about the scam, they aren't cracking down on it as much as they could because they get reimbursed from the government.

Estimates show these scams are costing the government tens of millions of dollars. But the government is cracking down. Just a few weeks ago the FCC issued a more than 100 page report on proposed changes to cut down on fraud and abuse of the relay system.   

In the meantime, what do you think about this? What do you think should be done about the problem?

Share your thoughts below.