The elderly, as a group, are one of the most popular targets for fraud and other types of financial abuse. Especially if they live alone and are not as perceptive as they used to be, they can be very vulnerable to scammers and con artists, who will take advantage of their decreased capabilities.
If you have relatives or other loved ones who are getting older and aren’t as clear mentally as they used to be, you may want to monitor your elders finances to protect against possible fraudulent financial activity. Here are three benefits to detecting elderly financial abuse.
1. It Helps Your Loved Ones
This is the most obvious and probably the most important benefit. The earlier you can detect financial abuse of a parent, relative, or friend, the sooner you can put a stop to it and keep them from losing more. There are a number of signs that your loved one may be a victim of a scam. They include…
- Large amounts of money in bank withdrawals, checks made out (particularly to “Cash”), or credit card transactions.
- Disappearance of valuable objects around the home.
- A different-looking signature on checks or other financial documents
- A new best friend, unknown to you or the rest of your family. This can be seem harmless, but is particularly suspicious if it’s accompanied by suspicion of family or caregivers, or a new name added to their bank account.
If you encounter any of these signs, talk to your loved one and to the bank immediately to help prevent any further exploitation.
2. It Helps Others
Not only does detecting elderly financial abuse help you and the people you love, it can also help other elderly people in the area who might be in a similar situation. By alerting the banks, the police, your local Adult Protective Services and even an elder financial fraud consulting company to the scam, they can then spread the word to others and help prevent further victims. Provide as much information as possible about the scam and the people behind it (if you know), so that others can be on the watch for those signs and avoid falling prey to the same scam.
3. It Helps Catch the Guilty Party
The more information you can provide about the scam, the easier it will be to catch the person responsible. Particularly if the scam comes in the form of a “new friend,” you’d do well to get a detailed description of them and find out as much about them as you can. Sharing this information with the police will put them on alert the next time this friend pops up.
Even if you never see the person—if the scam takes place over the phone or e-mail—providing the police with details of the scam, the name the person used, name of any company they claimed to represent, etc. will help them recognize the scam more easily in the future and put them one step closer to catching the guilty party.
Detecting elderly financial abuse is very important, for you, for your elderly loved ones, and for society as a whole. The more alert you are to suspicious activity with elder finances, the more equipped you’ll be to put a stop to it. And in the end, it will make both you and your loved ones a whole lot safer and more financially secure.
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Veriti Consulting LLC provides elder financial abuse support to individuals and legal teams across the United States. To learn more call Veriti Consulting at (877) 520-1280 today.
