Consumers are the first line of defense against scams, schemes and swindles.

Bank tellers, MoneyGram counter clerks, Western Union employees and others, including family and friends, constitute the second line of defense.

That's why con artists caution their victims not to tell anyone that they've "won" a substantial amount of money.

The victims, afraid they'll outlive their income or that it will evaporate in the current economic downturn, consider the unexpected check in the mail or the you've-won-big-money telephone call to be a godsend.

Before we go any further, remember this:

1) U.S. postal authorities advise that all foreign lotteries are illegal here.

2) If you have to send money to collect your "winnings," the only winner will be the crook who receives the money you send via MoneyGram or Western Union.

And it's during that step in the scam-scheme-swindle process that the second line of defense has saved consumers from themselves and, in doing so, saved them thousands of dollars.

Although banks and other companies train their employees to be alert for victims of get-rich-quick schemes, and commend them for successfully intervening, Huntington Bank goes the extra mile. The bank, based in Columbus, Ohio, honors its employees with Service Excellence Awards for going "above and beyond the call of duty."

The awards were presented this year at a dinner at the LeMont Restaurant on Mount Washington. It was attended by the recipients, their supervisors and Tom Hoaglin, the chief executive officer, president and chairman of the bank.

"Mr. Hoaglin enjoys attending the annual dinner because it is an opportunity to reward employees who are the public face of Huntington," said Maureen Morrissey Brown, a spokeswoman for the bank.

Keri Baker, a customer service representative in the Jeannette office; Pam Locke, a team leader in the Beaver Falls office; and Cindy Stewart, a team leader in the Richmond, Ohio, office, received Service Excellence Awards for exceptional customer service in 2008. Mrs. Stewart also won the Heart of Huntungton Award for outstanding customer service.

Mrs. Baker, 35, who lives in Greensburg, became suspicious after an elderly woman came to the bank for a cash advance on several credit cards. When she asked the customer why she needed $4,000, the woman said she had won the Canadian lottery.

She said she had to send the money via Western Union to pay the "taxes" on her "winnings" before a man would send them to her home. Mrs. Baker asked the customer to meet with the bank manager, who explained the scam.

A middle-age man who brought a well-executed counterfeit check to the bank wasn't as easy to convince. It was one of those checks sent to victims who are instructed to deposit it and return some of it to the sender. By the time the check is determined to be phony, which can take weeks, the victim has lost the money he sent to the crook to pay for assorted "fees" related to the "winnings."

"I told him it was fraudulent, and so did his wife, but he didn't want to believe it," Mrs. Baker said. "We've also had customers bring in counterfeit money orders that look legitimate."

Miss Locke, 46, of Rochester, became concerned when a woman in her 80s, who lives alone, kept calling the Beaver Falls branch every half-hour to see if a check had cleared her account. Miss Locke knew the woman lived alone and had no one to look out for her.

"She is so giving that anyone could take advantage of her," Miss Locke said. "She was making all those calls because she was second-guessing herself."

When the customer told her she had written a check for $30,000 to an insurance agent who said he wanted to start his own business, Miss Locke put a block on the check and notified the state Department of Aging.

The state, in turn, contacted an agency in Beaver County that recognized the woman was in failing health and needed assistance. She is now living in a skilled-care facility in Beaver Falls.

Mrs. Stewart, 60, said Carol Rodriguez, a customer service representative in the Richmond, Ohio, branch, didn't like what she was hearing from a longtime customer who lives alone. She said the customer had been accompanied to the bank by a man who claimed the customer owed him money.

Mrs. Stewart said the customer wanted a cash advance of $6,900 to pay the man for applying asphalt to his driveway. It turned out the man had almost completed the job before knocking on the customer's door and demanding payment for work the customer hadn't asked for. Mrs. Stewart drives by the customer's home to and from work and knew he had a cement driveway that didn't need a new surface.

She delayed the cash-advance procedure long enough to call the sheriff's department and alert all other Huntington branches not to honor the check. She then drove 4 miles to the customer's house, where she met a deputy sheriff and explained what had happened. The check was never cashed and the customer now has a caregiver.

Asked what advice they had for consumers, especially with the economy the way it is, Mrs. Baker, Miss Locke and Mrs. Stewart offered the following:

"Trust your gut instinct. If you have a question about money, call your bank. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually isn't true. If you didn't order it, don't pay for it."

Officials of Citizens Bank, National City and PNC Financial Services said their institutions also acknowledge the personal service their employees extend to customers, but not to the extent that Huntington Bank does.