Elder Fraud

No secret here, there are widespread concerns about elder fraud. For purposes of this article, we’ll simply consider that to be any situation where there has been financial advantage taken against the elderly (we will nicely call them senior citizens). Frankly, while seniors might be more at risk, the cautions and the issues raised here apply to everyone. Perhaps what makes this a bit different, besides the obvious, is that there needs to be greater monitoring or watching, or looking over the shoulder, of senior citizens in respect to protecting them from this financial fraud concern. While it’s still only the minority of senior citizens who might be susceptible to this type of problem, it’s a not insignificant number of people and a not insignificant amount of money involved.

The following are some warning signs, some indicia that action needs to be taken:

• A change in key people in that person’s life. Whether it be dropping longtime relationships or adding new relationships. Particularly if it’s adding a new relationship, should you (whoever is responsible or interested in helping this person) be concerned about new people in his/her life.

• Money moving around – a big warning sign of course is if there is the movement of money (especially if it’s of a significant amount) that is atypical for the history of this person. Are there large payments for something, is money going into new accounts.

• Keeping secrets – we all have secrets, and some of us would be terribly embarrassed if they were revealed to the world. However, when it comes to senior citizens, is there all of a sudden an increase in secretiveness, an unwillingness to share what used to be routine. Does it seem that certain things now are special in the sense they are not shared with whom things were normally shared.

• Payments by gift certificates or debit cards – this is a big one, even if the amounts are only in the hundreds of dollars (which by the way, could add up to a lot of money pretty quickly). The key issue here is that these are sometimes untraceable – which is a big warning sign. If someone had always paid bills by check or credit card, and is now doing it by different means (and don’t overlook cash) – these are warning signs.

• Overuse of phone or computer – what if this senior is spending a lot of time on the telephone, or before the computer screen? We’re talking here time that is atypical for that person, that represents a significant change in that person’s habits.

Obviously, this is an area fraught with problems and often requiring great delicacy in handling the situation. No one likes to be told that he/she is no longer competent, is being taken advantage of, is a fool. If you can get this person’s cooperation, perhaps limitations could be placed on activity within a bank account or an investment account; perhaps dual notifications can be mandated so that you or some other responsible person will always be involved in any movement of money. Or, perhaps with cooperation from the appropriate sources, say a one-day delay can be placed on the movement of any amount above a certain threshold. It comes down to somebody who is trustworthy and not out for his/her own benefit, having the ability to intrude on the senior’s financial life. That by itself is not easy.

If you have any questions contact Kal Barson at kal@barsongroup.com.