There doesn’t seem like a day goes by that we don’t hear about some case where the elderly were taken advantage of because of some scheme or scam. “Elder Fraud” has been on the rise for the past several years as more and more of the elderly have come online and more accessible. The opportunities for fraud have increased dramatically because of the technology and the uncertainty it can cause.
Every year elderly Americans lose billions of dollars to scams, exploitation and fraud. Criminals target the elderly because they are often an easier target, due to cognitive decline and loneliness…in addition to their lack of familiarity with new technologies. For example, many don’t understand all the online banking and financial options so when someone calls them and tells them they have been hacked and need to give them their information to fix it they tend to believe they should comply. This is just one of many examples seniors face today.
In addition, there are ways for fraudsters to find the elderly and to target them with their scams and exploitations. It is easier than ever today to find out who is elderly and to target them with a specific scam. They can identify who they are much easier and create their scam to be specifically for them so it is hard to distinguish this from a real situation.
As the population of the U.S. gets older, more criminals choose to target the elderly. This is a national problem that requires national attention to fix completely. However, state governments should also step up and do their part to protect elderly people in their jurisdictions.
Most states are not doing enough today. For example, very few states have state level investigative units that are dedicated to fighting elder financial abuse, as the Brookings Register points out in "S.D. a national leader in battling elder fraud."
A few years ago, South Dakota decided there was a problem and started a commission to make recommendations about how the problem should be addressed. One of the results was to create a special unit in their attorney general's office dedicated to investigating and prosecuting the financial abuse of the elderly. We can only hope that more states will follow suit and come up with similar programs to crack down on this epidemic of fraud.
I would recommend you talk to your state representative about this and ask them to prioritize this as a critically important issue to address. In the meantime, if you suspect an elderly person is being exploited, I recommend they contact the authorities and an elder law attorney to hopefully avoid something serious happening to them. We can all do our part to help this problem be significantly reduced if we are all more aware and act accordingly.