Source: Alison Matas, Baltimore Sun ( Free Registration )

The first caller told Norman Breidenbaugh he had won $2.5 million in a foreign sweepstakes, but there was a catch: Breidenbaugh needed to send $2,000 in fees before collecting his earnings.  Other calls followed, promising Breidenbaugh millions more — even a Mercedes Benz — as long as he would wire some money to pay taxes on the prizes. He obliged, sending more than $400,000 over about six years, hoping the promised winnings would cover his wife's medical expenses.

The prizes never came. The people calling Breidenbaugh, 81, were con artists from Canada and Jamaica, claiming they were Border Patrol or Secret Service agents, a fraud scheme that has increasingly targeted elderly people. Breidenbaugh fell behind on property taxes and last year lost his Baltimore home.

Read Full Article: Elderly man loses home following lottery fraud