The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

September 13, 2007

Scammers in black pickup preying on elderly women

By Joe Pinchot

SHENANGO VALLEY — Two local police departments are asking people to be on the lookout for a couple of scammers in a black pickup who are believed to have stolen about $200.

The scammers focused on elderly women but, in two cases, the women were savvy enough not to let anyone in their homes.

There are differences among the three incidents — two in Hermitage and one in Shenango Township, both Wednesday — but Hermitage detective John Piatek and Southwest Mercer County Regional Sgt. Ron Preston said they believe the same people are responsible.

“They’re the same actors, no doubt about it,” Preston said.

In Hermitage, a woman in a newer model, black Chevrolet pickup approached residents in the 4000 block of East State Street and the 300 black of Coolidge Drive, Piatek said.

The scammer, a woman using broken English in one case and perfect English in the other, asked the victims if she could measure their properties for the upcoming sale of properties next door, Piatek said.

In the East State instance, the scammer was allowed inside the victim’s home to borrow a pen, and money was later found to be missing, Piatek said.

The Coolidge Drive resident did not allow the woman inside her home, he said.

The descriptions of the perpetrator in each case are similar, and Piatek said the woman could have been faking her broken English.

The Shenango Township incident occurred at a home on Hubbard-West Middlesex Road. A woman and a man in a black pickup went to the home, and the woman approached the victim, said she was a Pennsylvania Power Co. employee and asked for the victim to accompany her to the garage to check on power lines, Preston said.

The victim, believing it was a scam, refused to go and the people left in the pickup, Preston said.

Piatek said a man was not seen in the Hermitage incidents, but the descriptions of the pickup and the woman match in all three cases.

Piatek advised residents not to let anyone into their homes and to call 911 immediately if they suspect something is wrong.

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