A conference is being held this week to highlight crimes that target the elderly and to seek new ways of protecting pensioners from heartless con-artists.
The event, organised by Wandsworth Council's community safety team, will be attended by representatives of charities, voluntary groups, sheltered housing teams, churches, GPs and NHS workers.
Also attending will be police officers, neighbourhood watch co-ordinators, crime prevention officers, academics, staff from the fire service and representatives from other London borough community safety teams.
Councillor Jim Maddan, who is a former Met police inspector, will be addressing the conference.
He said: "Sadly there are plenty of criminal gangs who specifically target older people.
"We want to make sure that as many older people as possible learn about the danger signals and learn what they can do to avoid falling foul of these tricksters."
The conference is being staged at Wandsworth town hall on Thursday, October 10, afrom 9.30am until 1pm.
For tips to avoid becoming a victim visit www.met.police.uk/fraudalert.
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