SAN DIEGO -- Authorities issued another warning Monday about a group of bandits who have been conning their way into local homes -- generally where senior citizens live -- and looting them while the victims are distracted.

San Diego police first alerted the public to the burglary series last month, when about a half-dozen of the crimes had occurred in Clairemont, La Jolla, Linda Vista and Point Loma-area neighborhoods.

Over the last several weeks, at least eight more households have fallen victim to the the bandits, who apparently began working their scheme around the beginning of the year, SDPD spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

The thieves gain entry to residences through such ruses as showing up at the front door and asking for a glass of water, or by posing as landscapers, according to investigators.

One of the bandits then diverts victims' attention while an accomplice sneaks through the home and steals jewelry and other valuables, usually stashing them in a pillowcase or bedsheet.

They also have knocked on front doors and claimed to have broken a water pipe on the victim's property while working in the area, according to investigators.

On one occasion, one of the burglars tried to pass himself off as a utility worker, even though he was not wearing a uniform.

In the most recent case, two women appeared at a family's front door and got inside by asking a young boy if one of them could use the restroom, Munoz said.

The burglars -- described as white or Hispanic in their 20s or 30s who get around in a two-tone, American-made van or a primer-gray sport utility vehicle -- appear to be "targeting the elderly and may be staking out houses" to select their victims, Munoz said.