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And it's old school. Door-to-door style. Eureka resident Jude Cole called us up today to report that bogus magazine sales-people have descended upon Humboldt County.

Cole wasn't immediately suspicious at the appearance of a couple of young people at her doorstep, even though they "looked like cast members of Glee -- with the whitest teeth, the cleanest skin ... just not typical."

As these failed TV extras were about to leave (after they'd convinced Cole to pony up for a magazine subscription) they started acting strangely. One got a call on his cell phone and, gesturing to a parked white brown van on the corner, said their security was waiting, Cole recalled.

Suspicious, Cole, who described herself as "65, but a pit bull," hopped into her classic BMW, pulled up alongside the van and wrote down the license plate number and a description of the driver.

Later, she examined her invoice and looked up the company online, and it indeed appeared to be fakey-fake. So she notified the Eureka Police Department and was told that the EPD has been trying to crack such magazine scammers for three years running, Cole said. A call to the sergeant handling the case was not immediately returned.

So, be on the lookout for attractive periodical shysters with good dental hygiene, possibly in the vicinity of a white van. That is all.