We see and hear about horrific abuse targeting the elderly, ranging from scams to neglect.

One local case came to light in 2005, and it was a stomach turning investigation.

A 75-year old Kirkland woman died after living in filthy conditions. Her daughter was convicted of neglect.

The lead cop on the case wondered how many more cases are missed.

Firms hire private investigators for everything from checking job applicants to internal financial sleuthing.

Their ranks include former state police officers, FBI agents, Secret Service personnel, street cops, even postal inspectors. Some work for large national or international companies. Others operate as freelancers. A few have jobs in law firms.

They make up a discreet network of private investigators and investigative agencies that provide confidential services to companies of all sizes, as well as to attorneys and individuals.

The password today is ‘pretext’ State, federal bills might impose sentences on impostors

The Hewlett-Packard scandal has taken a word from the film noir world of the private eye, pretexting, and put it into a bright spotlight. In the process, the affair could help criminalize the activity as well.

Pretexting, a practice long used by detectives and others, has increasingly come under fire by lawmakers and privacy advocates.

Calaveras and Tuolumne County law enforcement investigators and prosecutors are gearing up to handle one of the area’s fastest growing crimes — elder financial abuse.

Last year, elder abuse charges were filed against 10 suspects in Tuolumne County. To date this year, 11 cases have been filed.

In Calaveras County, four cases were filed in 2005 and three so far in 2006.

Experts say this is just the tip of the iceberg. Elder abuse has been called “the crime of the 21st Century” and the caseload is expected to rise.

According to the California Elder Financial Protection Network, more than 200,000 seniors are financially abused in California each year.

There seems something seamy about surveillance software–something seedy about a product widely publicized as a tool for jealous spouses.

So it’s notable that the makers of Spector Pro www.spectorsoft.com surveillance software are trying to clean up its image a bit.

Spying is questionable enough, even if it’s a beloved child you’re trying to protect, and it was with some hesitation that I tried Spector Pro as part of a look at tools for parents concerned about their kids’ activities on social networking sites.

Slain woman’s family wants to know why an admitted killer was allowed to work as a neighbor’s health aide

Murder case points to background check flaws

Slain woman’s family wants to know why an admitted killer was allowed to work as a neighbor’s health aide Kytja Weir

When Kenyadda Patterson moved to the Summerfield apartments with her two children, she didn’t know that the man working as a home health aide less than 20 feet across the breezeway was an admitted murderer.

Police Accuse Man Of Third-Degree Murder

An Allentown man was charged Friday in what local police described as the worst case of elder abuse they had ever seen.

The man’s 76-year-old mother was found inside her Allentown home last February in deplorable conditions.

The call came on Tuesday. I looked at the caller ID and saw an unfamiliar area code and assumed it was a West Coast publicity agent returning a call for one of several entertainment stories I was working on.

The gruff voice on the other end, though, said, “I guess this is what you get for putting your phone number on your stories.”

Dog had found me.

Reality show star Duane Chapman apparently was upset about some comments that local private investigator Steve Hedrick had made in a pair of articles I had written recently about him and the bail bonds business.

A former insurance adjuster has been charged with fraud by the Somerset County’s Prosecutor’s Office after authorities said he inflated a fire claim by nearly $15,000.

Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said Friday that the arrest of Anthony “Tad” Doyle of 9 Buckwalter Circle, Royersford, Pa., was made after the Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Unit discovered what they say is an inflated claim filed by Doyle. Doyle formerly was a public adjuster with Metro Public Adjustment in Bensalem, Pa.

Forrest said investigators with New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company Special Investigations Unit and the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor first contacted his office about Doyle.

Note to retirees: Beware the family.

Financial swindles are one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse of the elderly. By some estimates, as many as 5 million senior citizens are victimized each year, says Sara Aravanis, director of the nonprofit National Center on Elder Abuse, which provides information to federal and state policymakers. Because of the problem’s spread, “many states have laws authorizing financial institutions to report suspicions of elderly abuse,” says Bruce Jay Baker, general counsel for the Illinois Bankers Association. Earlier this summer, the Securities and Exchange Commission hosted a seniors summit to highlight the issue, with SEC Chairman Christopher Cox noting that protecting seniors’ pocketbooks “is one of the most important issues of our time.”

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