Elderly, in particular, need to avoid scams

It's time for us all -- and especially seniors and those who love and care for them -- to be on guard: Mail and telemarketing fraud are up 27 percent this year, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Postal inspector Lee Heath said a shaky economy entices people to look for different ways to invest their money. Too often they find scam artists out there "just waiting." Last year, Heath's office handled 66,000 fraud complaints. At the rate they're coming in now, Heath said, this year's total could top 80,000. The National Consumers League estimated that illegal telemarketing costs Americans $40 billion annually.

Postal inspectors are responding by putting up posters in the nation's 38,000 post offices, mailing post cards to more than 3 million homes in areas where large populations of the elderly live and launching a media campaign featuring actress Betty White.

Good for the postal inspectors.

We need them to be on their guard, along with every prosecutor and other law-enforcement personnel.

Our elderly, their relatives, their friends and their neighbors all need to beware.

If elderly friends or family members begin mailing out money orders, checks or cash in response to having been told by some telemarketer, or someone through the mail, that they have won a "prize," make sure they know they're being scammed.

If money is requested to enter a sweepstakes, it's illegal.

There is something especially repugnant in the cunning of those who prey on the frail elderly for illicit financial gain. We all must do whatever we can to prevent such exploitation of the vulnerable among us.

The elderly, in particularly, should be familiar with the adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Beware the promises of quick gain. Instant wealth rarely comes easily.