Elderly. Widowed. Trusting.

And with money. Apparently lots of it.

Over several months last year, the Kauai woman ended up losing about $15,000 in a mail scam that "guaranteed" she would win big in the Australian lottery.

The woman no doubt wasn't the only local victim before the operation, based in Canada but with ties to the Caribbean, was shut down earlier this year, postal authorities say.

Thousands of other brochures touting the lottery were mailed to Hawaii residents. Local authorities intercepted about a trailer-full of brochures once the scam was uncovered.

The foreign lottery scheme is just one of many ways that con artists, usually based on the mainland, try to dupe Hawaii residents out of thousands of dollars each year.

Hawaii is a frequent target of mail schemes partly because of our isolation, according to authorities. Hawaii residents wanting to check a mainland company have to make long-distance calls or send letters, and many won't take the time or spend the money to do that.

So scam operators keep on dangling their offers until someone bites.

"Once they figure out you're going to play, they keep on playing with you," said Byron Dare, a Honolulu postal inspector who focuses on mail fraud.

In the case of the Kauai woman, the scam started small, Dare said. She purchased $39 worth of bogus lottery tickets and got back about $5 in "winnings," enough to convince her to try again.

And again. And again.

Dare said the Canadian outfit got her phone number, credit card numbers and other personal information, all to be used to keep stringing her along. On the woman's birthday, the company sent flowers.

"The more information they can get about you, the more they can take advantage of you," said Dare, who was told by Seattle authorities that another Hawaii woman lost $30,000 to the scheme.

Con artists often will target elderly residents, thinking such residents are the most gullible. If the elderly person is living alone, all the better.

"They can be so trusting at times," said Lt. Dan Hanagami of the Honolulu Police Department's white-collar crime unit, who has seen countless cases involving elderly victims, some victimized four, five and six times.

Scam operators typically will purchase mailing lists from mail-order companies, publications or other mass-mailing ventures to get their would-be victims' list, Dare said. Some will target ethnic groups or immigrants.

Once a victim takes the bait, a type of shark frenzy ensues.

The scammers will try striking repeatedly, using the lure of even bigger rewards to get more money, Dare said. Worse, the victim's name can be circulated among other con artists.

The Kauai victim at one point was getting about five calls and a dozen pieces of mail daily from questionable outfits, Dare said.

Postal authorities say most mail-order companies and promoters are honest. It's the dishonest ones that cause the problems, using exaggerated or deceptive claims.

People should be skeptical of mail or telephone pitches promising big prizes, investment returns or other such lures, the experts say. Often, a "winner" will be asked to send money to cover a processing or shipping fee for the prize. The fee usually is more than what the prize is worth.

The extent of Hawaii's mail fraud problem is difficult to gauge.

Many victims won't file formal complaints because they are too embarrassed to admit being victimized, especially for a second or third time.

And catching the perpetrators is equally difficult. They usually leave few paper trails and move about frequently.

For the Canadian lottery scheme, the operators rented private mail boxes in small cities around Vancouver. The principals were in Barbados.

HPD's Hanagami said scam operators usually will insist that a victim wire money rather than send a check because the latter is easier to trace. That will leave investigators with little to go on. "You can only do some much tracking," Hanagami said.

Neil Smith, local supervisor of the FBI's white-collar crime squad, believes Hawaii's time difference with the mainland presents logistical difficulties for outfits pushing telemarketing schemes, which invariably have a mail component.

But that doesn't stop some operations from targeting Hawaii.

"They're always out there trolling," for victims, Smith said.