Justice Department files charges against 250 defendants in senior fraud schemes

The defendants allegedly harmed more than a million victims, most of whom were elderly, according to the Justice Department.

In one of the cases, the FTC and the state of Missouri filed charges against two men and their sweepstakes organization.

The FTC alleged that seniors would receive mailers claiming that they had just won more than $1 million or that they could win a large cash prize if they were to answer a question and submit a registration fee.

Since 2013, victims lost more than $110 million to this particular scheme, the FTC said.

In another elaborate fraud , the FTC and the state of Missouri pursued defendants who allegedly coordinated with telemarketers to hoodwink the elderly into buying phony tech support services.

Some victims of this scheme lost more than $50,000 paying for fake security software. One individual paid nearly $400,000 over several years, according to the FTC.