CLINTON TWP — Criminals who use mail fraud to steal money often target the elderly as victims.

Ian Ortega, a U.S. postal inspector, talked to residents of Concordia at Cabot on Wednesday about the dangers of mail fraud.

Ortega said fraud criminals target the elderly because they often are isolated, lonely and have the most money at their disposal.

“They appeal to your emotional side,” Ortega said to about 40 people who attended his talk.

Ortega said popular schemes that his department investigate come in forms such as foreign lotteries, strange sweepstakes and work-from-home or repackaging plans.

Ortega kept noting one main point throughout his speech.

“There is no purchase or entry fee for a sweepstakes,” he said. “If you have anyone telling you otherwise, it’s a scam.”

Ortega said this would apply to foreign lotteries too, but actually any lotteries not run through a state’s lottery system are illegal.

Ortega played news clips showing examples of schemes and the end results, usually in thousands of lost dollars.

He said most times these schemes originate from foreigners, which makes finding the suspects and the money difficult and time consuming.

“As soon as it is wired away, more likely than not, that money is gone,” he said.

Virginia Hausele, 76, of Concordia at Cabot said the examples Ortega showed appealed to her emotions.

“Your heart goes out to these people that have been scammed,” she said. “It’s sad to see people taken advantage of.”

The seminar came shortly after many Butler County residents received numerous calls from impersonated IRS employees, claiming they needed an immediate credit payment for unpaid taxes.

Ortega said if the IRS calls asking for any form of immediate payment, a person should hang up immediately without saying a word.

“If you ask questions, they’ll stonewall you. They’ll say we’re the IRS, don’t question us,” he said. “The (real) IRS will never call you to demand a payment.”

Ortega said not saying anything is important because criminals may find personal information through conversation and sell it for a profit for others wanting to learn how to break through that person’s defenses.

Hausele said she received an IRS fraud call shortly after hearing a few of her neighbors mention the scheme.

“As soon as he said IRS and said a few words, I hung up,” she said.

Hausele said she knows that the elderly, even in Concordia’s tight community, can fall prey to the suspects, who will go as far as befriending a person and calling them every day.

“Even here in Concordia, where we are like family, people are lonely, and they need someone to reach out to,” she said. “Most times it’s over the phone.”

Hausele said scams will never go away and mail fraud is only one of many attempts to take advantage of innocent people for profit.

“It pervades so many areas of our lives,” she said.

Referencing Ortega’s speech, Hausele said the best anyone can do is be ready when the time comes and take the right action.

“If you let them get a grip of you, it’s much harder to get rid of them,” Hausele said. “The more information you have about these things, the better prepared you are.”