If you’re like me and you help take care of one or both of your parents, you’ve no doubt experienced the frustration of dealing with the numerous people and companies forever trying to obtain your parents’ money by any means possible.
What Is An Elder Scam or Fraud?
According to the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, a government organization, “Elder fraud is an act targeting older adults in which attempts are made to deceive with promises of goods, services, or financial benefits that do not exist, were never intended to be provided, or were misrepresented. Financial exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds or property.” In other words, it is a form of elder abuse in which someone takes advantage of an older, vulnerable person. People from all income levels are targeted because scams are sometimes hard to prosecute and most scams go unreported.
Are Elder Scams Really a Problem?
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) warns, “Financial scams targeting older adults are costly, widespread, and on the rise. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in 2021 there were 92,371 older victims of fraud resulting in $1.7 billion in losses. This was a 74% increase in losses compared to 2020.” Bear in mind that it is also believed that for every 2 reports, at least 40 others go unreported. These statistics by NCOA only represent those reported.
What Are Examples of Fraud or Scams?
The types of scams and fraud attempted changes rapidly with technology, but it includes such things as:
- government impersonation
- health care or Medicare fraud
- robocalls getting the elder to say “yes” so they can record it.
- counterfeit prescriptions
- fraudulent anti-aging products
- investment schemes
There are many other types of scams and fraud as well.
In caring for my dad I regularly have to toss a forest’s worth of catalogs tempting him with the latest gadget or thing he “needs.” I intercept phone calls from politicians hoping to convince my dad they can fix everything if they just have his monthly commitment of money. And I constantly work with credit card companies attempting to recover the monthly charges that show up on the bill in lieu of the “free trials” dad was promised.
What Can Be Done About Scams or Fraud?
Given the circumstances, you may understand my excitement when I ran across a program called Money Smart for Older Adults put together by the FDIC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Their article about the program was published in 2013, but it’s just as relevant today. The 55-page document that takes you through the Smart Money program is still downloadable at: Spotlight On Scams.
According to their article, “This program trains-the-trainer to prevent common scams and teaches you to spot other types of elder financial exploitation.”
Go now. Download. Read. Gain a useful resource.
