MILWAUKIE, Ore. - The more dire the times, the more scams we see.

A Milwaukie woman is in tears tonight after realizing she fell for an Internet loan scam.

"Now I'm on the verge of losing everything," Barbara Mauseth told KATU. "I can't pay my rent. I can't pay my electric. My phone has been shut off.  My car, I can't pay my car payment.  Nothing."

Mauseth said she was desperate when she turned to the Internet for a personal loan. She hit on Silvergate Financial Services. The company promised to give her a $7,000 loan, regardless of her credit history.

But to get that loan, she had to send a $1,400 security deposit. You guessed it, the loan money never came and Barbara's money is gone.

If Mauseth would have done a broader search of the organization's name - Silvergate Financial Services - she would have found similar rip-off reports online, and many in the past month alone. Silvergate Financial Services is what's known by investigators as a loan scam.

Here are tips for spotting a loan scam:

• You're asked to pay in order to secure the loan.
• The money has to be wired via Western Union, which tends to be harder for law enforcement to trace.
• The money is often sent outside the country, in this case Canada.
• Once the initial payment is sent, there's often a demand for more.

If you are in need of money to pay debts, go to debtadvice.org and look for a certified non-profit credit counselor through the national foundation for credit counseling. Non-profit credit counselors will help you either for free or for a set fee.