Con artists prey on seniors not only over the Internet but also through phone calls, the mail and even face-to-face home visits. More than 6,000 fraud complaints were lodged last year with the S.C. Consumer Affairs Department, and many of the victims were seniors.

And those were just the reported cases. Thousands of others undoubtedly went unreported, costing unwitting victims hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now, however, the state hopes to do something about it. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who heads the state Office on Aging, last week announced the formation of a statewide Task Force on Senior Fraud. The task force is an effort by Bauer to join forces with other state agencies to crack down on scams against the elderly.

Forty-one agencies and individuals who deal with seniors will coordinate through Bauer's office and Consumer Affairs to track down complaints of scams. The task force, which includes law enforcement, has a Web site and hot line available to seniors to report attempts to con them. Seniors also can use the site to learn about the latest scams.

We think this is a commendable effort to crack down on criminals who prey on some of the most vulnerable members of society. And, in the process, this task force is likely to bring many an unscrupulous con artist to justice.