(MONEY Magazine) – Nine out of 10 Americans have been targeted through the mail by con artists, according to a 1992 Louis Harris & Associates survey. Worse yet, a third of them -- 53.6 million people -- fell for it. As a result, each year consumers lose about $40 billion to telemarketing scams. Barry Reid of the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs says: "These folks are so slick you don't have to be poor, uneducated or elderly in order to be bilked." Here are the latest tricks: -- You fill out a sweepstakes form for a free trip to a sunny isle. Six weeks later, you get a call announcing you've won. The hitch? They need your credit- card number to pay nominal "port taxes." Rhonda Lapin of the Florida attorney general's office says: "Consumers lose $200 to $1,000 or more" in this scam. -- You receive a postcard saying you've won one of the five prizes listed -- typically, a Caribbean cruise. To qualify, you must buy some product for "just $500." The "prize" never materializes. -- You get a call inviting you to join a travel club for, say, $300 a year that will save 50% on travel costs. But you must provide your credit-card number because the offer is good only on that day. Officials at the National Fraud Information Center (NFIC; 800-876-7060, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., weekdays) report that half the complaints they get involve travel fraud. To avoid being taken, never give your credit-card number to solicitors. And if you think you're being targeted, call the NFIC, which will direct you to appropriate authorities in your state.