AUSTRALIA: Con men pair target elderly victims

MELBOURNE (The Age), May 16, 2008: By Lucy Battersby Two con artists posing as handymen are forcing elderly home owners to hand over thousands of dollars for roof repairs that are never completed. The thieves have stolen money from six pensioners in south-east Melbourne - including one Brighton couple who gave them $16,000 - and have even driven some victims to ATMs so they could withdraw more cash. Sergeant David Chapman, from the Divisional Office of Proactive Policing, said there may be more victims and has appealed to the public for help to stop the thieves. "Over the last three months in the area from Mordialloc to Brighton, con men have been targeting elderly citizens in cowardly acts," he said at a media conference yesterday. "They have been offering handymen and roof repair services for a set fee of somewhere around $400 to $500." "This has completely outraged me, it has outraged local police and we will spare no expense and spare no effort in bringing these people to justice." Sergeant Chapman said after yesterday's appeal for help, the Crime Stoppers hotline was inundated with calls that confirmed the con artists are operating throughout Victoria. "We will do everything in our power to bring these bastards to account," he said. A media conference was held yesterday at the house of one of the victims, Kenneth Stirrup, an 87-year-old highly decorated war veteran. Mr Stirrup said a man knocked on his door in mid-March offering to fix his chimney. Mr Stirrup agreed to pay him several hundred dollars in cash for the work. "I don't know how he picked on me," Mr Stirrup said. "He made it sound so important about that chimney that (it) made me worry about it." "Later on, when he took me to the bank and the way he carried on, I said 'You're a bloody con man!'." The men painted the chimney then continued to ask for more money. They even drove Mr Stirrup to the bank so he could withdraw more cash for them. Eventually they demanded a total of $5000. Mr Stirrup said he wrote a cheque to get rid of them. But the ordeal did not end there. The man rang Mr Stirrup two weeks later and told the pensioner he was coming around to see him to get "the money you owe me". An outraged Mr Stirrup then rang the police. Mr Stirrup was relieved to find he was not the only pensioner who had been conned, but is concerned for the other victims. "I didn't want to call the police because I was so disgusted with myself," Mr Stirrup said. Sergeant Chapman said two males, possibly aged 40 to 50 and one with a thick English accent, were behind the scam. They are deliberately targeting elderly people. Moorabbin police believe the men are constantly changing their appearances and are using either a red or white ute. They are also concerned the con men have moved to another area or are operating in another city as no attacks have been reported for three weeks. Police are urging people to ring 000 straight away if they are unexpectedly approached by men offering roof repairs. Copyright © 2008. The Age Company Ltd.