MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica: Ruth Wilson

Jamaica Dept: MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - The 88-year-old retired coast guard officer hadn't been outside the U.S. in decades. Yet phone calls started pouring in from Jamaica, dangling the prospects of huge winnings from an international lottery that he had won, according to Winnipeg Free Press. "It's been heartbreaking," said Ruth Wilson, a Seattle woman trying to clean up the financial fiasco that she said has cost her frail parents about $250,000, nearly all of their retirement savings and in this April 12, 2012 photo, mail sent in an effort to scam an 88-year-old retired Coast Guard officer, who declined to be identified for fear of being targeted for fraud again, sits on display in his home in Bothell, Washington. A Jamaica-U.S. task force launched three years ago to stop a network of aggressive gangs who use fake lottery scams has failed to stop the con artists, who are now stealing an estimated $1 billion a year, largely from elderly Americans. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson There was a catch, of course. He had to send a check to pay the tax on his winnings. He wired the money to Jamaica. Soon he was ensnared in a scam that may cost him his home in an assisted living facility outside Seattle. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.