Something about the call just didn't seem right to Karen Tamanaha.

The caller said he was from Bank of Hawaii. He said the bank was in the process of transferring her account and he needed to verify her account number.

Tamanaha, 74, gave him the information — he was very convincing, she said — but as soon as she hung up, she called the bank to confirm the caller's story.

"They said there was no such thing," Tamanaha said. "So we closed my account immediately."

Tamanaha's quick thinking averted what could have been a personal financial disaster, but her story serves as a cautionary tale to seniors targeted by scammers, identity thieves and unscrupulous businesses.

Tamanaha was one of more than 300 seniors and senior service administrators who attended an anti-fraud conference sponsored by the city's Elderly Affairs Division, the state Executive Office on Aging, and Senior Medicare Patrol Hawaii, yesterday at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

The conference focused on alerting seniors to the wide range of scams and other potential abuses for which they are specifically targeted, and encouraging them to alert authorities to situations in which they or someone they know have been victimized.

"I think every senior should be aware of this," Tamanaha said. "It seems to me that seniors are very gullible. We trust everybody, and that makes us very vulnerable."

And that's a reality that criminals have exploited with staggering efficiency. According to the AARP, seniors account for roughly 80 percent of all victims of telemarketing fraud, a $40 billion criminal industry.

A true accounting of the impact of senior-targeted fraud and abuse is difficult to calculate because it is estimated that for every case brought to light, at least five others go unreported, according to Mary Twomey, co-director of the University of California-Irvine's Center of Excellence in Elder Abuse and Neglect.

As keynote speaker at yesterday's conference, Twomey urged her senior audience to acknowledge that elder fraud and abuse do exist and that they are empowered to help stem the problem by alerting authorities.

Twomey said schemes and scams that target seniors are ever-evolving and often appeal to the victim's fears, their respect for authority or their sense of civic responsibility.

Twomey cited the numerous scams that arose after Hurricane Katrina, in which scammers solicited money from seniors by telling them the proceeds would go to victims of the disaster.

One recent scam involved scammers calling seniors and telling them that they had missed a scheduled jury duty date. The scammers then told their victims that they would need their Social Security number to verify their identity.

Some scammers have gone to seniors' homes and identified themselves as water inspectors. In these scams, one will lure the resident to the basement to "check the pipes" while the other either steals valuables or scopes the house for future break-in.

Sometimes, Twomey said, the abuse comes from legitimate businesses with unethical practices. She said high commissions paid to agents for Medicare insurance programs have led some to employ high-pressure sales tactics that unfairly coerce victims into applying.

"Our seniors need to stay connected to their community, not be afraid to ask for help, and not be ashamed to report abuse," Twomey said.