Scammers hitting seniors
As economy sinks, schemes preying on trusting elderly rise. Attorney General sounds alarm — and offers defensive strategies.
By JANET KELLEY, Staff Writer
There are all kinds of crooks and con men.
But a growing number of thieves seem to specialize in targeting senior citizens by promising to help them make more money on their life savings, prosecutors say.State Attorney General Tom Corbett believes criminals who prey on the elderly are in a class all to themselves.
"We've had a number of cases," Corbett said recently, "some of them from the Lancaster County area, where individuals have done everything they could to steal a senior's money.
"And other than stealing kids' lunch money, I can't think of anything worse than that."
In the past year, Corbett's office has prosecuted three such men, who have been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lancaster County seniors. That doesn't include the case of Allen Perry, of Landisville, who was convicted of cheating more than 70 senior citizens out of $2.5 million.
In the past year, the Attorney General's Office has charged several people who, like Perry, have taken advantage of seniors' trust to steal their life savings or at least siphon what they could from their financial holdings.
"As the economy has gotten worse," Corbett said, "we're seeing obviously more scams, not just against seniors, but against everybody. People that want to make a quick buck are out there and are going to take advantage of situations."
But "even before the economy went south," Corbett said, his office became aware that there were "more cases involving seniors, particularly on the financial side."
"One of the reasons," Corbett said, "is that seniors are the most trusting generation."
Corbett said he used his own in-laws, who are 87 and 89, as role models when he created the Elder Abuse Unit in 2006 to help Pennsylvania's elderly population avoid being victims of crime.
"They trust everybody and I hate to say that we can't be that way," Corbett said, but he knows from looking at his own in-laws just how easily it can happen.
Part of the unit's mission is crime prevention, offering speakers and suggestions for senior citizen groups and community events.
"One of the things I suggest," Corbett offered, "is that they take a look at our Web site, www.attorneygeneral.gov."
The Web site, with a special section for seniors, lists types of scams and crime-prevention tips. It also has phone numbers for consumer information and for contacting speakers from the attorney general's office's speakers bureau. If a senior doesn't have a computer, a family member can print out the information for them, Corbett said.
"Get your parents to sign up for the 'Do Not Call' list," Corbett suggested, "because often times it starts with that telephone call."
"Tell your parents if somebody comes knocking on your door soliciting, to come through you."
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