SAN DIEGO -- It came in the mail and seemed legitimate. A North County woman took the bait, and now, she's paying the price.

“I'd like to throw it in the garbage can,” said Lorraine Utterberg of Escondido.

Utterberg, 82, didn't feel that way a few months ago.

“I thought, `Great!’” she remembered.

She got that `great’ feeling after getting a mailer.

The return address read `California Tax Reassessment.’

Inside the envelope was a host of "official" looking items

“Just looks like it comes from the Tax Assessor's office,” Utterberg told 10News.

It even had “my tax i-d number,” she recalled.

It came with an enticing offer: a chance to have the property taxes on her Escondido home reassessed for an annual savings of more than $600.

“I could use the money,” Utterberg said.

An interested Utterberg saw a warning of a late fee penalty so she wrote a check for $186 and mailed it.

She hasn't heard from the company since.

“$186 later, I feel pretty bad,” she said.

According to local experts, Utterberg isn't alone.

“This complainant says the group is sneaky,” said UCAN’s Sue Macomber.

In the last few days, UCAN has been flooded with complaints of similar offers for a reassessment the county provides free of charge.

“They appear to be preying on our most vulnerable citizens during these hard economic times,” Macomber said.

Tough times, now tougher for one woman, who has this warning: “Don't do it. Do it yourself. It's free,” Utterberg said.

It's a fairly simple process with forms even available online.

If you'd like more information, go to the home page at 10news.com and click on the red TV button.