Mail scams prey on elderly

HIGHLAND — Yukus Inouye has been told he's a winner of millions in cash and prizes so many times he now wishes he wasn't.

Nearly every day the 87-year-old former Utah County commissioner finds in his mail box a handful of sweepstakes and contest letters. Some look like official federal government documents; others look like stock certificates. The majority, however, ask for money.

Even in the digital age, mail scams are common. And most sweepstakes scams, officials say, target Utah's elderly population.

Randy Tuckett, postal inspector for the U.S. Postal Service in Salt Lake City, said roughly $4 million is swindled annually from the elderly in the United States.

"A lot of money is lost each year," Tuckett said. "If you have won in a sweepstakes, you shouldn't have to pay anything for it."

According to the U.S. Postal Service, some 60 percent of sweepstakes-scam victims are 60 or older. Postal officials estimate the percentage of sweepstakes-scam victims among the elderly is probably much higher, but they speculate that many do not report the crime.

Many of the letters will promise big cash prizes. But an "administration" or "delivery" fee is required before the receiver can become eligible for the prize.

Some of the letters say they have been trying to find the person to award a cash prize — and only a small fee is required to receive the money.

Senior-citizen advocates say these operations prey upon the hopes of the elderly, many of whom live on fixed incomes and who are lured with a one-last-chance promise of a better life.

Tuckett said an elderly Utah woman recently lost her life savings. She sent more than $200,000 over a five-year period to an operation in the Bahamas, which promised her a prize of $210 million.

Although it doesn't sound rational, Tuckett said, "they think it's going to happen."

"We're really concerned about these forms of consumer fraud," said Michael Siler, associate state director for the American Association of Retired Persons. "We know folks 50-plus are being targeted."

In a recent AARP member survey, Siler said, 78 percent of seniors rated protection against fraud as their highest priority.

"They know that the elderly are more vulnerable. With a lower annual income, they know they need the money. Many are in dire straits financially, and this seems to be one last grasping-at-the-straw type of thing," Siler said.