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The Wisconsin Better Business Bureaus is warning consumers to be wary when considering foreign currency investment, particularly alleged investment deals for the Iraqi dinar.

The BBB of Chicago and Northern Illinois has seen a recent spike in consumer complaints focused on dinar investment. To date, it has received 93 complaints – including one from a Fond du Lac man - against a company called United World Exchange located in Oak Brook, Ill.

The Fond du Lac man paid $220 to receive 250,000 Iraqi dinars last September. He never received the currency he purchased, despite numerous attempts to contact the company. Other complainants paid as much as $7,000 and have not received their currency. The complainants come from 33 states and eight countries, including Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Canada and Iraq.

Many complaints are coming from military personnel or civilian contractors in Iraq, claiming fraud over dinar investment deals.

United World Exchange (www.usdinar.com) also does business as B & G Currency Trading of San Diego and Mid America Trade LLC of Chicago. All three companies are owned by the same people and have unsatisfactory ratings with their local BBBs. According to the Chicago BBB's investigation, the owners allegedly have started multiple new websites for Iraqi dinar exchange, only to close sites and rename the business when complaints, problems and investigations begin to surface.

Consumers who have purchased dinars and have not received them are urged to report the issue to the Chicago and Northern Illinois BBB office at www.chicago.bbb.org or by calling [phone].