Jennifer Bertalan lives in a two-story, four bedroom house and posted an ad for a roommate on Craigslist.

"Within 12 hours of me posting, I had three responses," Bertalan said.

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She needed help paying her mortgage so she could finance her wedding, so when she received an e-mail from someone calling herself Kiri Smith, she thought her prayers were answered.

"This person was working from India in an orphanage and was coming over to Washington to help children with heart disease," Bertalan said.

The two exchanged e-mails and quickly became friends. Eventually Bertalan offered Smith the room for $650 a month and the e-mailer gladly accepted.

Bertalan said Smith sent a FedEx package to her and inside were three money orders totaling more than $2,000. Bertalan followed the instructions, cashed the checks and then wired the extra money to Smith’s alleged movers in Detroit; a decision that would ultimately cost her.

"It never crossed my mind that people can make fake money orders," Bertalan said.

Not only were the checks fake, but Smith was fake too. There was no move, no orphanage and no job to help kids with heart disease.

"Everything seemed completely real," Bertalan said.

Each year in this country, hundreds of thousands of American's fall for fake check scams. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that people lose millions of dollars annually.

"We do not know where the checks are coming from. They are obviously high quality checks. They look authentic and often times they are good enough to fool banks," said Charles Harwood of the Federal Trade Commission.

Bertalan said she owes the bank $2,500 and that her checking and savings accounts are empty. Her bills are growing and her plans for a wedding are officially on hold. She is looking for a second job and someone to watch her son.

"Somebody doesn't realize how badly you can screw up someone's family. We could lose our house," Bertalan said.

She is still searching for a roommate, but said she is through with looking on the internet.

The FTC says if you receive a check in the mail from an unknown person, don't cash it. Instead call your bank or contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint.