ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BETH MACY
SOURCE: BETH MACY
It's a hot summer afternoon in Craig County - that time of year when the first of the homegrown tomatoes turn from blossoms into nubs of fruit.
The 98-year-old widow takes her usual place on the porch, where, as much as possible, she tries to see the world go by.
A truck pulls up and two men get out, walk up the hill to her house. She notices they're carrying Bibles, figures they're with the revival going on up the road.
The men read Scriptures. One of them kills a snake in the widow's front yard. Then they go in for the big kill: They ask her to make a donation. Five dollars, nothing big.
She is a Christian woman, the widow, the kind accustomed to placing great faith in the Lord - and the kindness of her fellow man. She does not believe in large institutions such as banks, so she keeps all her money - her life savings, squirreled away by living lean and tucking a few Social Security dollars away every month - in a plastic zippered bag.
It is stashed somewhere in her house. To this day, her relatives don't know where. But the men, seeing her scuff into her house, follow her with their eyes.
When she returns to hand over the $5, one asks to use her bathroom - an outhouse lodged behind her home. She walks around to the side yard to point the way.
Then the other man makes his move. He steals the contents of her bag: a bracelet her late husband gave to her as a teen-ager, a watch from her son.
And the woman's stash of money - the family's not sure how much, though her daughter-in-law figures it was thousands.
``She called it her burial money,'' she says.
``In the country, you make a statement by your burial,'' adds a granddaughter. ``You don't wanna go into that great good night in a pine box.''
The Craig County Sheriff's Department is investigating the scam. It's one of dozens perpetrated in the area in recent months.
When the weather heats up, so do the flimflammers:
Guys approach your house with a truckload of asphalt and say: ``I've got a bunch leftover from a job down the street; I'll make you a deal.''
Another Craig County resident - an old man, with failing eyesight - paid more than $13,000 for a shoddy blacktop-sealer job two weeks ago. ``He signed the check, then asked the guy to write in the amount,'' recalls Sheriff Billy McPherson.
The elderly are prime targets, probably because they're the last trusting generation of Americans.
Home-improvement scammers use fear to entice them: Your house will fall down if you don't have this treatment done.
Sweepstakes callers lure valuable information with the promise of a prize: We need your bank account number for verification.
Even fake fire-department solicitors sell tickets through sheer intimidation: What if your house caught on fire and we couldn't come?
Fran Stephanz, executive director for Roanoke's Better Business Bureau, wishes she had a nickel for every time she's uttered these sentences: ``If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.''
And: ``Reputable businesses don't go around knocking on doors; they're very busy out doing the work.''
And: ``Never let a stranger into your house.''
And: ``Never give out your bank account number over the phone.''
Summer is always the peak season for scams. New to the consumer-fraud complaint list this season: Notes arriving in the mail announcing you've won a prize - but the telephone number to call is an 900 toll call; trees wrapped in burlap bags - so the victim can't see they've been lopped off above the roots.
The family of the Craig County widow doesn't want their name used in this column. They've put the community on alert, and now they're trying to put the scam behind them.
But the widow herself is grieving hard for a lifetime full of memories - and the promise of a dignified death.
``I went over and shampooed her hair on Saturday and she finally slept some,'' her daughter-in-law says.
``All she can say is, `Everything I had in the world was in that bag.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB