"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Nevada Public Safety Director Gary Herstein says he repeats that line quite often, at least every three to four weeks. Scams are an ever-present problem and many keep repeating with little changes for years.

"A lot of it are these Nigerian e-mails that they send over," Herstein said. "People see the chance to make some money and they get tempted."

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The latest scam making the rounds is labeled the Spanish Lottery Scam on the FBI and the United States Department of State Web sites. A Nevada resident was the target of the scam, but an alert relative spotted it as a fake. Like all such scams it sought financial information that could have been used to bilk the recipient out of all their money. The State Department has some information to help recognize the scams on its Web site at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_2....

There is a general pattern among the scams. First, the victim receives an "award confirmation" through fax or e-mail, informing them that they have won a large amount of money in a Spanish lottery drawing. First of all, unless the letter recipient has been in Spain in the last year, it is impossible for a United States resident to win. In order to enter and win a Spanish lottery, the player must be a resident of Spain and purchase the ticket within the country. It is against U.S. federal law to play a foreign lottery through the mail or over the phone.

Scammers often claim that due to a clerical error or some other sort of mix-up, the winner is asked to keep his or her prize confidential until the winnings are released to them. The longer the scammers keep a victim from talking the better it is -- for the con artist, that is. The chance that someone might alert the victim to the scam are high once word gets out, so the scammers prefer that victims remain quiet.

In most cases, there is a deadline to claim the money, which helps create the illusion of a sense of urgency. Victims are rushed so they will have less time to figure things out. Keeping the victim confused helps the scammer take another bite of the apple, and they take full advantage.

Once the con artist claims the transfer process has begun, the victim is informed of various delays requiring the payment of transfer fees, taxes, anti-terror fees, insurance fees, claims agent fees, and other administrative costs that they must pay before the prize can officially be collected.

The elderly and people who aren't very technically proficient often are the victims of scams.

"These folks aren't used to computers. They don't understand them too well and they get confused; or, they are in a pinch and the money sounds good to them and they fall for it," Herstein said. "A lot of this comes out of Nigeria --someone claiming to need to deposit money in your account so they can move to America, and once they have that information, they drain the account."

Immediate financial losses aren't the only loss a person can suffer in falling for such scams. The information also can be used to steal the victim's identity, which can result in years of wrangling with credit companies trying to straighten out the shambles the victim's credit rating has become after the scammers run up huge debts that the victim may be expected to repay.

Herstein's advice for someone considering giving out their information? Don't.

"I'm hesitant to give out my information even when I know who is asking for it," Herstein said. "It is very easy to have your information stolen and it's very difficult to correct afterwards."