FLOOD VICTIMS SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR SCAMS

Just as relief agencies have provided comfort to area residents during the recent flooding, law enforcement authorities are determined to do the same in its aftermath. Regrettably, natural disaster is often accompanied by con artists who prey on victims and compound their misery. Agencies ranging from the Missouri attorney general's office to local police departments are sending out the word they will deal with these crimes severely, and we believe this message can not be dispatched loudly enough.

Most law-abiding citizens can't conceive of taking advantage of persons whose livelihoods, property and fortunes have been destroyed by rising rivers; the instinct of most people is to pitch in and help, and the stories of that have been abundant this summer. However, a criminal segment of our society sees a flood or a tornado or a hurricane not in terms of human suffering, but only as financial opportunity.

Phony charities are promoted whose proceeds help only unscrupulous individuals, while adding nothing to relief efforts. Scams are launched under the guise of providing home repairs or cleanup services. Bogus loan arrangements are foisted on those vulnerable sorts who might be lured by the promise of a quick fix to their problems. Most often, the culprits want cash in advance. Very often, the victims are elderly.

Attorney General Jay Nixon was in Cape Girardeau last week to caution residents about these possibilities. With the local police chief and local prosecutor at his side, Mr. Nixon sent a clear and appropriate signal that those caught trying to profit from the tragedy of others will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.

The attorney general also put in place a 120-day emergency rule that makes it illegal to shamelessly inflate prices on goods that are needed by flood victims. Mr. Nixon said the rule was necessitated by price gouging seen in other parts of the state, where goods and services were oversold by hundreds of times their cost. In normal circumstances, we would retreat from an effort by the government to influence prices, but Mr. Nixon's intervention in this instance is welcome; persons wanting to help themselves out of their flood predicament should not find themselves at the mercy of price gougers.

In addition, the attorney general says his office will not take aim at those businesses whose modest price increases are meant only to offset higher costs sustained as a result of the flood; he wants to curb only those whose price increases are excessive beyond reason and decency.

Victims of the flood of 1993 need not become targets a second time. Individuals should be on the lookout for the purveyors of scams and schemes and ripoffs. We are pleased legal authorities are getting the word out and take seriously this unfortunate by-product of natural disaster.