An older couple are sitting in front of their computer.

They’ve just received some great news. They’ve won the lottery.

All they have to do is send a few thousand dollars to pay the taxes and keep it a secret and they’re rich.

They don’t realize it’s a scam.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office is running a public service announcement that shows such a scene. The advertisement, which has been airing for a couple of weeks, is meant to introduce viewers to a scam many of us see every day.

Despite tough anti-spam filters, our e-mail in-boxes are invaded – almost daily – with notices that we’ve won a large amount of money in a foreign lottery. We also get the Nigerian business deals, unexpected inheritances and pleas for help, all asking that we send money.

“There’s a steady drumbeat of this stuff out there,” said Chuck Dow, a spokesman for Attorney General Steven Rowe, who is featured in the public service announcement. “Seniors, particularly, are targeted.”

According to Dow, senior citizens might be more reluctant to make a complaint, to admit they’ve been bamboozled because they fear losing their financial independence. It makes them tempting targets for crooks and scam artists.

Dow cautions everyone to protect his or her personal information, especially bank account numbers, credit card numbers, birth dates and Social Security numbers. We should all be especially careful with e-mails or calls that aren’t solicited. It’s one thing to use your credit card to buy something from a retailer you know, it’s something else when someone calls out of the blue looking for money.

How do people get taken? “People want to believe something like (winning the lottery) can happen,” Dow said. The idea of that unexpected, life-altering, wonderful event, no matter how unlikely, can be powerful.

There are a lot of scams out there, coming at people through the computer, the mail and in person. We wouldn’t go so far as to offer that safe advice from kindergarten – don’t talk to strangers. But we would say, don’t give them your bank account number or the keys to your car.