This February 2019 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that since 2013, financial institutions have reported to the federal government over 180,000 suspicious activities targeting older adults, involving a total of more than $6 billion. These reports indicate that financial exploitation of older adults by scammers, family members, caregivers, and others is widespread in the United States. The reports also provide unique data on these suspicious activities, which can enhance ongoing efforts to prevent elder financial exploitation and to punish wrongdoers. The good news is that less than 2% of them have involved mortgages. Here is a link to the complete report: /wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cfpb_suspicious-activity-reports-elder-financial-exploitation_report.pdf
This presentation is used for discussion. The main points of elder financial exploitation include:
- Illegal or improper use of older person’s funds, property or assets
- Perpetrators range from close family members to offshore scammers
- Only a small fraction of incidents reported to authorities, i.e., law enforcement and/or Adult Protective Services
- Estimates of annual losses to older adults = $2.9B to $36B
Go to: /wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cfpb_suspicious-activity-reports-presentation.pdf