How to Protect Aging Parents From Financial Exploitation
While maintaining good health for seniors is often the top priority, it's also important to take care of their financial health. Unfortunately, financial scammers often target seniors because of how vulnerable they can be. Some factors contributing to their vulnerability are diminishing financial capabilities, massive wealth, and age-related problems like dementia.
In the United States alone, elder financial fraud and abuse costs victims about $36.5 billion in losses annually. Despite that the increasing numbers, you can protect aging parents from financial exploitation. Read on to find out.
Common Scams and Issues Facing Seniors
Elderly financial exploitation can be subtle, requiring you to look more closely for financial abuse of your parents' assets. Besides, family and friends can commit these abuses and frauds, which come in different forms. Some common scams and issues seniors may run into include;
- Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams: The scammer calls your aging parents to tell them they have won a lottery or sweepstakes prize, but must pay fees or taxes to collect it.
- Investment Schemes: Seniors can fall victim to frauds like advance fee schemes, pyramid schemes, or letter scams from other countries. Most of these scams offer low or no-risk investments that lure seniors to invest in them.
- Internet Fraud: Seniors rarely recognize online scams like virus scans and phishing. Virus scan scams involve suspicious pop-up windows promising to scan for computer viruses, only to download and steal personal information. On the other hand, phishing scams involve scammers sending emails posing as a bank, IRS, or other organizations asking seniors to send, update, or verify their personal information.
- Embezzlement: A trusted person with the aging parent's finances can use the opportunity for personal gains, such as using the senior's credit cards for personal expenses.
- Door Knockers: Scammers may go door-to-door, posing as service providers like utility maintenance specialists, security system providers, or cable TV salespersons. Once in the house, they request a deposit payment for a promise to deliver services that are never rendered.
Senior parents can face several other scams and issues, including annuity fraud, Medicare fraud, charitable donation scams, and telemarketing scams. Fortunately, you can identify warning signs to determine if your aging parents are being exploited financially. Here are some warning signs to look out for;
- Sudden unpaid bills or insufficient fund notices
- Financial transactions without proper documentation
- A "new best friend"
- Unusual bank and credit card account activities
- Missing assets or properties
Ways to Protect Aging Parents from Financial Exploitation
Be Present in Your Senior's Life
Talking to or visiting aging parents is an effective way to get more insights into their financial situation. It also helps to let seniors open up and confide if suspects are taking advantage financially.
Vet Professional Caregivers Carefully
When vetting caregivers, run a background check to ensure the individual has no history of theft or fraud. You can get background checks from your state police or a private company, or check public docket information and civil cases.
Educate Aging Parents
It is crucial to let seniors understand the risk of financial exploitation and their vulnerability. In addition, educate your aging parents about the common ways they are likely to get scammed and critical preventive measures like keeping their personal information private.
Delegate a Trustee
When a senior has age-related issues like dementia or is incapacitated, designating a trustee to manage and handle their finances can help prevent elderly financial exploitation.
Utilize Technology
Several tech tools can help detect suspicious activities in a senior's accounts, investments, and credit cards. These include missing deposits, abrupt changes in spending patterns, and unusual withdrawals. In addition, the software readily notifies you or a trustee in the event of financial abuse, providing front-line protection against scammers.
Offer Help with Monthly Bill Paying
Helping aging parents settle or pay their monthly bills can help monitor account activity, protecting them against suspicious transactions.
Get Started with Professional Caregiver Services
At Senior Helpers Triangle, we provide professional caregiving services to senior citizens in Raleigh, Cary, and Apex, from in-home caregiver services to companion and transitional care. Contact us to learn more today.