A trusting nature is usually considered a virtue, but in the case of the elderly, it can make them likely targets of fraud, experts say.

"The elderly come from a generation that was much more trusting," said William Hall, postal inspector in Charlotte. "They assume that if you are doing business through the mail ... you are legitimate."

Taking advantage of the elderly financially, as well as physical and sexual abuse of the elderly, are growing problems that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hopes to cure with a bill that would make abuse or neglect of the elderly a federal crime.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. A similar bill has been introduced in the House.

A recent hearing chaired by Graham was billed as an investigation into "the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraudulent crimes against the elderly."

A Graham aide said the goal is to get the senator's bill approved by the committee as soon as possible.

There were between 500,000 and 5 million incidents of elder abuse in the last year, according to the Sara Aravanis, director of the National Center on Elder Abuse. Because there is no official clearinghouse to record instances of elder abuse, it is difficult to be precise, she said.

While legislative leaders work to tackle the problem in Washington, local officials are grappling with increasing instances of alleged fraud and abuse in which older people are the targets.

Maryanne Kirkpatrick, an official of TidePointe, an independent living facility on Hilton Head Island, is very aware of the vulnerability of the elderly. Kirkpatrick said TidePointe residents have been targeted by sweepstakes schemes and overzealous telemarketers.

Authorities say the elderly often are home alone and are just happy to have someone to talk to, making them particularly susceptible to overly eager or unscrupulous salespeople.

Kathy Nitza, activities director at Indigo Pines, another Hilton Head retirement community, said memory loss also leaves some elderly open to exploitation.

Nitza said when her residents receive questionable letters and phone calls, "the best advice we give them is to tear it up." She worries some residents are not reporting encounters with solicitors.

"The person being abused may not have the wherewithal to report it," she said.

But Terry Connelly, a postal inspector fraud team leader, said other factors also lead to underreporting. Older people either may be too polite to complain or may have a more troubling reason for keeping quiet: The defrauder could be a family member, Connelly said.

Robin Allbritton, head of the Bluffton post office, said she has encountered two instances of mail fraud of senior citizens since May. When the letters were brought to her attention, she sent them to be investigated by the Postal Inspectors Office.

Postal Inspector Michael Parker from Columbia said he was surprised at the low incidence because retirement communities are often "a hot bed" for fraud.

"I just don't get a lot of complaints for that area," Parker said.

According to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, there were seven reports of elderly abuse in 2001, compared with five in 2002. But there have been eight reported cases so far in 2003. Elderly abuse is considered physical, sexual or emotional abuse, financial exploitation, neglect and abandonment.

Beaufort County Department of Social Services received 92 adult protective service reports from July 2002 to June 2003, said a DSS spokeswoman. A breakdown of the ages of the adults involved was not available.

Statewide, South Carolina Adult Protective Services had 6,467 adult protective service reports from 18 and older vulnerable adults in the same time period. Of those, 68 percent were for people 60 and above.

"These crimes are widely underreported, so we do not fully understand how pervasive elder abuse is," said Hollings in a statement. "We can combat these heinous crimes more effectively by strengthening the relevant criminal penalties, by providing resources to better investigate, report and prosecute incidents of abuse, and by better educating care providers and the public."

Indeed, education and information sessions about fraud and abuse are becoming more common in the state's elderly communities.

Indigo Pines has weekly meetings with its residents. TidePointe also has regular information sessions with its residents.

"We speak to them every month to ask them to be on the lookout" for letters asking for money or those promising big winnings in exchange for a small fee, Kirkpatrick said. The community's officials also ask residents to keep them informed of encounters.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office also is available to teach senior citizens what to look out for.

Debbie Szpanka, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, said that the sheriff's office is willing to meet with any group that is concerned about being victimized. The sheriff's office also provides programs that inform citizens about how to keep safe and how to avoid being victimized, she said.