Aug 20, 2008 7:41 pm US/Eastern
Authorities Warn Elderly Of Identity Theft Scams
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
They are heartless criminals attacking the most vulnerable victims and now there's a new effort to keep local senior citizens from being their targets. The initiative comes after a series of brutal attacks on the elderly.
Claire France has a point-blank question for the attacker who brutalized her 85-year-old aunt, Lillian France: "Aren't you from someone? Didn't you come from a woman? Don't you have a mother, grandmother, elderly relative?"
Lillian is still recovering from an elevator attack that was captured on security camera. She was choked and robbed of $900 and even her cane.
"He attacks from behind, so he's a coward," said City Councilwoman Letitia James.
The suspect has struck 12 times in the last two months in Flatbush, Crown Heights, and Kensington.
But in addition to violence, the elderly are being victimized in more subtle ways, especially through identity fraud.
Daisy May, 67, says she was stung in a food stamp scam in which someone had depleted nearly her entire monthly allotment. It happened right after a man called her on a Sunday, saying he needed to "recertify her" and was coming to visit.
"Welfare's not open on Sunday. No one comes out on Sunday," she said.
But someone got her account number and PIN number. The city's Human Resources Administration says crooks have stolen $40,000 in food stamp funds from nearly 200 accounts over the past year.
And in New Jersey, the state's Policeman Benevolent Association says scammers pretending to be cops are using the phone to target the elderly.
"[They're residents] who claim getting phone calls from police officers for money. We don't do that," said Jim Ryan, a spokesman for the state PBA.
Authorities also warn against voter registration scams, saying that phone calls and e-mails asking for your social security and financial information are bogus.
As for the violent mugger on the loose who preys on the elderly, the reward is going up from $12,000 to $14,000 for information leading up to his arrest.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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