AG Nixon this week announced the shutdown of another company that uses "activation checks" to trick businesses into buying advertising they don't want. An activation check - or live check - is one of those checks for $2 or $3 that you endorse and cash, and it commits you to something. It could be telemarketing calls, it could be advertising, some credit monitoring service, etc. If you look at the back of the check, you'll see language on there that you're agreeing to - that is essentially a contract when signed. So be careful with these checks.

We busted two different online yellow page operations about a year ago for the same thing.