A series of crimes against senior citizens in the recent past are an indicator of how the silver-haired have become prime targets of criminals in the city.

Take the example of the 50-year-old conman recently arrested for cheating senior citizens in Mumbai’s central pockets like Matunga and Wadala. His modus operandi was to first befriend the watchmen at buildings so he could glean information about senior citizens residing there. He would reach out to those senior citizens whose kids stay in the USA, spinning a yarn about how he had arrived in the city and bought a property in the suburbs. He followed that up by persuading them to give him their precious gold and silver jewellery, saying he needed it for a puja. He would then make off with the jewellery, never to be seen again. Just a few days ago, another senior was robbed of her gold jewellery by a man who managed to enter her house by posing as a repairman from the cable company.