Conference focuses on senior safety

BANGOR – Sig Knudsen appearing as “Bobby Blacktop” and Lt. Bob Walsh of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office as “Mrs. Timid” got rave reviews Wednesday for their performance at the spring Triad Summit at Husson College, but a serious and timely message resonated through the laughter.

The skit that the two men performed was meant to alert law enforcement personnel, senior citizens and staff at senior citizen agencies to the very real threat that the elderly face when confronted with scam artists searching for easy money.

Knudsen, the director of 55 Plus Center in Brunswick, knows well the smooth lines delivered by door-to-door scam artists offering to fix driveways or paint porches and most often targeting older citizens.

The men’s performance was just part of a daylong event meant to bring together people around the state involved in Triads designed to help protect a growing population of senior citizens.

About 100 people from various elder-care agencies, law enforcement agencies, state agencies and AARP participated in workshops designed to help start new triads throughout the state and to learn how to maintain existing ones.

Triad partnerships among senior citizens, those who work with them and the police exist in 34 states. There are 13 in Maine and four more now being developed.

Triad partnerships focus on reducing abuse and improving lifestyles for elderly people.

The Penobscot County Area Triad was formed two years ago. Somerset County got one up and running a year ago and the latest – the Down East Triad of Washington and Hancock counties – started up last month.

The Down East Triad recently held a forum on telemarketing scams. The Penobscot County group has run various programs, including the “File of Life” and a recent educational program on a purse-snatching ring in Bangor.

Ricker Hamilton of the Bureau of Elderly Adult Services spoke Wednesday of a donated key box that hangs on the wall of a police department in Waldo County, put there by the local Triad project.

“They did a survey and found that many seniors were worried what would happen if they became very ill or had a heart attack or something and their doors were locked,” he said. “How would anyone get to them to help?”

The Triad started a project and collected spare keys from those seniors who wanted to participate, and those keys now hang at the police department in case of an emergency.

Detective Sgt. Michael Murphy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department pointed out that the Internet had led to a whole new venue for scam artists, and he noted that more and more senior citizens were surfing the net.

“Many are isolated and homebound, and they find the Internet really provides a good way of staying in touch and up to date,” he said.

The problem, however, is that scams abound, and he said especially concerning were sites advertising cheap miracle cures for a variety of health problems.

With prescription drug prices one of the biggest financial problems faced by an aging population, it’s easy to fall prey to fancy Web sites promising good health cheap, he said.

“I’ll tell you what this is – just the guy selling snake oil. He just got himself a new wagon,” said Murphy.

Detective Mark Walsh of the state Attorney General’s Office said the single largest abuse of the elderly comes in the form of financial extortion and noted that the majority of the cases were perpetrated by either the victim’s family members or caregivers.

“I’ve been at this for about two years, and we’re talking about three-quarters of a million dollars that has been extorted from senior citizens in this state during that time, and most of it is done by people that they trust,” he said.

That’s just what’s been reported. Walsh said he wouldn’t dare guess how many cases never get reported.

Walsh encourages senior citizens to have checks directly deposited into their accounts to avoid having to sign the check over to someone else to deposit. He said the elderly had to be very careful about whom they choose to have power over their financial affairs and recommended having a completely separate third party to give accounts an occasional thorough examination.

“We also like to see someone have a wide social circle of friends,” he said. “We often find that people who fall victim to these kinds of things are people who are socially isolated.”