Be wary of any amazing deal. Do your research and get multiple opinions.

You know the saying, if it's too good to be true...

Tanya Peila, a 30-year-old administrative assistant, and her husband, Justin, 33, a lumber truck driver, from Tacoma, Wash., were told about a company, Empire Timber and Logging, which was offering a chance to refinance a house with just a 2 percent interest rate on their mortgage, and all they needed was to put down a 1 percent down payment.

Typically, a homeowner is required to put down at least 3 percent of a down payment on a house, and so 1 percent would be a pretty amazing deal. Two percent, however, would be a phenomenal interest rate, given that the best rate people can get now is 4.82 percent. The lowest interest rate on record was 4.78 percent, which was in 1971, and so 2 percent, so far, simply hasn't existed.

The Pelias, who paid their 1 percent, translating to $2,200, can hardly be blamed for being taken in. They were told about the company by a trusted friend -- who was a mortgage broker.

"The owner has since skipped town with federal charges pending," says Tanya Peila, who says that they received a notice from the FBI that they had been the victims of fraud. They were lucky, however. They paid their 1 percent to a title company and not Empire Timber and Logging. It took a year of convincing, but apparently because the title company didn't want to get a bad reputation, they returned the Pelias' money.

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