It's the promise of big money and luxury merchandise that lures victims into a scam targeting senior citizens across the country.
Some lost their entire life savings to these con artists. Pierre Berg was among them.
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He was thrilled to hear he won a sweepstakes lottery.
"They had a Mercedes on a flatbed waiting to be delivered," Berg said.
They told him to collect his winnings, all he had to do was pay the processing fees and insurance.
The con artists gave clear instructions.
"Where is your closest drug store?" Berg said they asked him. "You have to get one of those Green Dot cards."
Berg put hundreds on the card, scratched off the back sticker and gave the number to the people who called.
"Most people don't realize it, but the moment you scratch it and tell him the number, he empties the thing," Berg said.
Just like that, he lost the $500 on the card. But that wasn't his only loss.
"They knew how to milk you," Berg said. "there was always a new hurdle, new obstacle, and you had to come up with money."
Between purchasing Green Dot cards and sending money orders to Costa Rica, the World War II vet lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the varying lottery scams.
Berg admitted, "They got quite a bit of money out of me."
Lured in by the promise of big money, Berg now knows other victims who lost everything.
"Some people have committed suicide when they found out they were suddenly penniless, thinking they were going to make a fortune," Berg said.
Postal Inspectors like Frand Schissler say older Americans are often the targets.
"The fraudsters are vicious," Schissler said. "They want to take anything they can from these poor seniors that are, well, just being duped into believing they won something."
That's why Berg has this advice, "If anyone ask you, says you have won a sweepstakes and asks you for money, he is a criminal."
Despite warnings that no legitimate lottery will ask you for money up front, so many people get lured in with the hopes of winning a fortune.
The U.S. Postal Service has a website, www.deliveringtrust.com, to help families spot signs a loved one has fallen victim.