JEFFERSON CITY -- Jay Nixon knows an easy legal target and a vulnerable political constituency when he sees one.

The Missouri attorney general, who has already declared his candidacy for the state's governorship in 2008, has launched legal action against another 27 companies in his Senior Sting project. All operate what Nixon claims are bogus foreign lotteries and sweepstakes.

"Clearly these companies have Missouri seniors in their sights," Nixon said on announcing the actions. He did not specify whether or not younger Missourians also have received such mailings.

Last year Nixon launched Senior Sting by collecting more than 8,000 pieces of junk mail sent to 300 elderly Missouri residents. In September Nixon announced some 248 legal actions against "pyramid scheme operators, foreign lottery scams and charity solicitors who were not registered with the Attorney General as required by Missouri law."

His latest moves against alleged lottery scammers mirror recent actions by attorneys-general in other western states. Gary King of New Mexico recently included notification of "false sweepstakes winnings" as one of the most common "scams" reported to his offices last month.

Iowa attorney general Tom Miller and Washington attorney general Rob McKenna have both issued similar warnings about "lottery scams" involving counterfeit checks. In Iowa, claims Miller, "winners" were required to wire "processing fees" and "taxes" once their bank had cashed the check only to lose the money once the check bounced.

In Washington, McKenna charges, letters were sent bearing the logo of "Mega Millions," an official lottery, and containing a counterfeit check. When the recipient deposited the check and it bounced, it was returned stamped with the depositor's account and routing number, allowing the "scammer" to clean out the recipient's bank account.

Nixon's 27 target companies are based in New York, Florida and Nevada as well as Canada, the Netherlands and Australia.