When it comes to package delivery, there's no name that elicits more trust than the FedEx brand. And that's undoubtedly why scammers are sending a blend of Nigerian 419 and lottery scams in an email that pretends to be from "FedEx Courier". The email claims the recipient has won an international lottery and the "cheque" is sitting at FedEx waiting to be delivered. The scammers instruct the recipient to send them their name, address, and phone number - along with a 'processing fee' to satisfy alleged taxing and other requirements. Those who fall for the scam and send the processing fee are often contacted with another tall tale - this time that other winners of the same lottery have been declared ineligible and now the winnings are even greater. Thus the victim is instructed to send even more money to satisfy the alleged increase in taxes and processing fees. Of course, there are no winnings - the only money that ever changes hands is the money the scammer collects from the victim.

The elderly are particularly prone to such scams. In many cases, they are even being deliberately targeted. This may be due in part to their having lived in a more protected time, a time prior to the international explosion of the Internet. A time when Uncle Sam was still able to police business practices and crackdown on the unscrupulous. In other words, the elderly may fall victim not due to any lapse in cognitive abilities, but rather because they've never been exposed to a world in which these sorts of scams were able to occur.

The 72-year-old Ann Mowle was one such victim. A single mom and experienced bookkeeper, she put three children through college and managed to tuck away a tidy sum for retirement. She planned to travel and to contribute to her grandchildren's continuing education. Instead, she was taken in by lottery scammers and eventually took her own life as a result.

Talk to your parents, your aunts, your grandparents, your elderly neighbors. Let them know the laws that once protected them aren't enough to keep today's scammers at bay. Talk to them about lottery scams, advance fee fraud, phishing, and other challenges presented by today's borderless world. Because if you don't talk to them, chances are a scammer will.