Preventive impact on the elderly persons - victims of criminal offenses

Being a victim of a crime can definitely be described as entering a difficult situation, with its wide range of psychosocial consequences. In addition to the consequences associated with anxiety, there is a feeling of anger and the question: why I became a victim of a crime. Elderly are treated as a special category of people exposed to harm, respectless behavior, discrimination and crimes. In Poland, in the category of criminal offenses, each year there are more applications of fraud for the „grandson” or „policeman” method. This fraud, in accordance with according to the Polish Criminal code, is punishable by imprisonment from 6 months to 8 years. Counteracting crimes is possible through reliable information on danger not only in the media, but also thanks to actions at the local level. These actions concern lectures about ways of fraudsters using mentioned above method, but also show the psychosocial consequences of being a victim of fraud and indicate the possibility of dealing with a difficult situation. The lectures usually include students of the universities of the Third Age, Senior Clubs, Social Welfare Homes, as well as people informed about them by for example, churches. The basis, however, are the workshops organized by the Police. The paper present issues related to preventive interventions directed to the elderly prevent them to become victims of crime.