Scam Artists Target Elderly Housework Schemes, Sob Stories Used To Defraud

Their sob stories are different each time, but authorities say their motive always is the same: Rip off old folks.

Spokane police are looking for a couple they say have made stealing from elderly residents a full-time job.

Kurt Bauer, 41, and Debbie Thomas, 38, both transients, are wanted on three counts each of first-degree burglary.

Their 15-year-old son, who police said often participates with his parents on the scams, also is wanted on burglary charges.

“They have a very smooth line,” Detective Craig Brenden said of the family. “They will talk and talk and eventually convince these folks to basically sign over their bank accounts.”

Police first heard of the scam in February, when several south Spokane residents reported items stolen.

The victims, all elderly, said a couple came to their homes and claimed they lost their house and all of their belongings in a fire.

The truth, Brenden said, is that Bauer and Thomas were living illegally in an abandoned trailer that burned in Airway Heights a year ago.

“They started showing up at people’s houses with a pail of water and some squeegee sponges offering to wash windows,” Brenden said. “When they get inside, one stays with the homeowner and the other runs around stealing things.”

The couple already has been charged with theft, forgery and obtaining a signature by deception or duress, Brenden said, but was released two weeks ago to await trial.

Since then, they’ve ripped off a 91-year-old woman three times, he said.

While window scam rip-offs include watches and jewelry, the couple also targets the elderly with sob stories and then seek financial help.

Brenden hopes other residents who have been victimized by Bauer and Thomas will report it. He estimated the couple has received multiple checks from different residents in a single day.

“Their main thing is money, that’s what they want,” he said. “I bet they’re working harder than most people just knocking on doors, seeing who they can find.”

One victim told police Thomas started visiting her several times a week and suddenly stopped showing up. Then Bauer came over and said Thomas had been in a car accident and was in a coma in Seattle.

He told the victim he needed $500 to fly there and pay for medical bills, Brenden said.

“They will go as low as they have to to get what they want,” he said. “They need to be stopped.”

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