Seniors vs. Crime encourages victims of fraud to seek help and searches for patterns in crimes.
By JARED GOLDBERG-LEOPOLD
Published February 25, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - It can come in the form of a phone call, a knock on the door or an overzealous salesman. "I can fix this for you," he'll say, or "Just sign here."
Senior citizens often become the victim of such scams, ruses and aggressive sales tactics. The scammers usually know just what they're doing, taking a small enough amount of money that police or lawyers might not get involved, but enough cash to make a dent for someone on a fixed income.
To fill in the gaps in the legal system and encourage scam victims to seek help, Seniors vs. Crime, a special project of the state Attorney General's Office, opened a storefront office at the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. Attorney General Charlie Crist helped formally open the office Monday, the third such storefront in Pinellas County and the first in the state inside a senior center.
"I can't think of much that's more egregious than somebody who would be looking to try to profit from taking advantage of senior citizens," Crist said Monday before the official ribbon-cutting at the Sunshine Center.
The office, which will be open two days a week, helps seniors who have been victimized to find out how they can get their money back or avoid scams the next time around.
