State sends out S.O.S to elderly

By Nick Spinetto, WINK News

Nov 13, 2008 at 6:19 PM EST

LEE COUNTY, Fla. - Thieves targeting the elderly! This is a trend officials say is on the rise as the economy continues to sink. Now state leaders are sending out an S.O.S. to help the elderly.

Elderly people in Florida have become the prime target for thieves looking to make a quick buck.

"The check looked very official," said Carol Goode, a recent Lee County scam victim.

Even though she thought it couldn't happen to her, Carol Goode got scammed. She received a letter from Publisher's Clearing House, telling her she's won a million dollars. All she needed to do was write a check for some fees. So she did. But it turns out the letter was fake and Carol was out thousands of dollars.

"I just can't believe this happened to me and I don't want it to happen to somebody else," she said.

Neither does state leaders. This is why Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is making it her mission to take these scammers down. "In my opinion, they ought to be in jail," she said.

Sink met with AARP Representatives, local law enforcement agents and financial experts in Fort Myers. It's part of a statewide program Sink calls, "The Save Our Seniors Task Force".

The goal is to brainstorm ideas to tackle financial fraud or scams against the elderly.

"It's a very serious issue," Sink said.

One that's getting worse because of the souring economy.

The State Attorney's Office says they've seen an influx in scams. "We see a lot of elderly fraud. Just like we see a lot of crimes," said SAO PIO Samantha Syoen.

Sink hopes her task force will turn this trend around by generating new ways to help Florida become scam free. Because as Carol Goode found out, its easy to be a victim. "I thought I couldn't be scammed," she said.

Once she's done visiting with her task force, Alex Sink will present the information to State lawmakers. The goal is to ultimately have tougher penalties on anyone who tries to scam an elderly person.