Recognizing Elder Financial Abuse
This post is part of a series for National Consumer Protection Week
National Consumer Protection Week is an opportunity to talk about a particularly troubling and challenging consumer protection issue – elder financial abuse and exploitation. Understanding what elder financial exploitation can look like and why it can be hard to spot can help you protect yourself, your loved ones, or someone you care for who may be at risk for this kind of abuse. We’ll tell you what the Bureau is doing to combat elder financial abuse.
Over the past couple of months, we’ve heard about several cases that vividly illustrate the challenges we face in working to prevent elder financial exploitation.
In one case, a former in-home caregiver and her husband who were indicted in Georgia for allegedly defrauding an elderly veteran with dementia out of about $182,000. More charges are expected, and police say the couple took about $500,000 from the 80-year-old man.
In another case, a handyman convinced an elderly woman to give him power of attorney. He took out a reverse mortgage on the home which the woman had owned since the 1950s, and she never saw any of the money. She almost lost her home due to the scam.
We also heard a troubling story about how the CEO and CFO of a California investment firm were charged with 66 felony counts of elder abuse, securities fraud, and conspiracy for bilking older investors of more than $2.3 million over an eight-year period.
The Government Accountability Office report on combatting elder financial abuse identified cases that are particularly thorny for social service, criminal justice, and consumer protection agencies. These cases involve exploitation by in-home caregivers, agents with power of attorney, and financial service providers—exactly the kinds of cases mentioned above. These cases also demonstrate why family members or others who have close contact with older adults can play an important role in spotting and preventing elder financial abuse and exploitation.
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