A 90-year-old woman is a recent victim of elder abuse. The financial scammers hacked into the woman’s account and removed $20,000. Frequently, financial abuse scammers present themselves as technical support or service representatives who offer to resolve issues connected to compromised email or bank accounts or even the renewal of…
With more people approaching the age of 65, a growing number of people are considering the potential benefits available from Medicare as well as other insurance options. Medicare A plays the critical role of paying for hospital stays as well as other services like skilled nursing facilities and hospice care.…
The federal department tasked with overseeing nursing homes throughout the country recently announced it is revising its policy and will now publicly post details online about all fines received by care facilities regardless of payment status. This new policy’s announcements occur during a period of increased criticism due to the…
Elder financial exploitation is a nuanced term for a growing problem–the financial abuse of the elderly. Financial abuse of the elderly is a growing concern in today’s society. There are more senior citizens now than ever before and many of them are institutionalized or require help to get by in…
Legendary actor Mickey Rooney died earlier this month at the age of 93. Over the later course of his life, Rooney offered many important lessons related to elder law estate planning. For one thing, he was a vocal advocate against senior financial exploitation. In 2011 he testified before a U.S.…
Advice is often given about checking a senior relative’s bank statements frequently to identify potential theft. Large cash withdrawals, donations to strange charities, and similar red flags should be pursued. But sometimes elder financial exploitation is so bold, that victims–or their relatives–may not realize that they were mistreated. For example,…
Elder financial exploitation is often one of those problems that community members believe only happens to “other people.” When reading stories about seniors falling for scams or being exploited by caregivers it is easy to view them as one-of-a-kind examples. But the truth is the exact opposite: elder financial exploitation…
Most discussions of elder financial exploitation include accusations of unique scams targeted at trusting seniors. As we discussed last week, many wrongdoers try to swindle the elderly community via insurance frauds, home repair schemes, and similar techniques. These are very real dangers that must be guarded against. However, it is…
On the whole, studies continue to show that seniors citizens are more “trusting” than younger demographics. Sadly, that trust is often exploited by those seeking to scam seniors out of significant sums of money, including retirement savings. These scams take many forms, and each are a reminder for families to…
From suspicious claims in an email to unsolicited letters, most of us assume we are not naive enough to fall victim to a financial scammer. This is a mistake. It takes only a moment of confusion or a lapse in judgement to provide a fraudster with the the tools they…