There are all kinds of crooks and con men.
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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.
Attorneys from Corbett's office went to Lancaster County Court recently after learning that Perry, after serving more than four years in prison, was only paying restitution of $16 a month. The amount was eventually increased to $550, but Corbett's office still wants to make sure Perry is paying all that he can.
Lancaster Judge Joseph Madenspacher has ordered that a detailed financial analysis of Perry's financial status be completed within the month, after which he will determine if the monthly restitution amount should be adjusted again.
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.
"I could see them being susceptible to some kind of scam where somebody would knock on their door and say, 'You know, you need to get your roof repaired,' or 'We can sell you additional insurance,' whatever it is," Corbett said.
"If I multiply that by the thousands and thousands of seniors we have across the state, just from a natural percentage...it's going to be a problem in Pennsylvania," which has one of the highest percentages of senior citizens in the country.
Sadly, Corbett said, elderly Pennsylvanians are not just victims of scam artists, but also several other kinds of crimes and problems, including domestic or caregiver violence.
"We want to look at it holistically," Corbett explained, "so we came up with the idea of creating a unit that when we have a senior complaint come in the door, we take a look at it from the health care side, if it's a health care complaint," but also whether there may be other issues involved, such as consumer or insurance fraud.
"We take it through all those sections to make sure we're not missing something, that they aren't a victim of other violations that they might not even know about yet," he said.
Practically speaking, Corbett also wanted to create a unit for senior citizens, knowing that some of the smaller counties across the state may not have the financial resources or manpower to pursue such crimes or investigate complaints.
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.
Corbett said he understands it can be difficult dealing with elderly parents, trying to look out for their best interest without sounding condescending or threatening.
"They don't like to be questioned because you are the child," Corbett said, regardless of your age or theirs.
"It's a very delicate subject to broach, but it's one that has to be broached. Talk to your parents about their resources," or whether they've received phone calls from people soliciting them for home improvement, insurance or other financial inquiries.
"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."
Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.
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