Financial Elder Abuse is incredibly common and often hidden.
California financial elder abuse refers to the wrongful or fraudulent exploitation of elderly individuals’ financial resources and assets. This form of abuse encompasses various actions, such as theft, embezzlement, forgery, or undue influence, targeting senior citizens who may be vulnerable due to physical or cognitive impairments.
Many financial assets can be easily transferred. It is important to act quickly to recover funds or stop their distribution.
Scams Targeting Seniors:
This encompasses a broad array of fraudulent activities aimed at older adults, such as investment scams, lottery scams, grandparent scams, romance scams, and tech support scams. These schemes often rely on manipulation and deceit to trick seniors into providing money or divulging sensitive personal information.
Unauthorized Use of Funds or Assets:
This involves individuals unlawfully accessing or misusing an elder’s financial resources without their permission. Examples include stealing cash, forging signatures on checks or documents, coercing the elder to change their will or financial arrangements, or using their credit or debit cards without authorization.
Financial Exploitation by Caregivers or Family Members:
Caregivers or family members entrusted with managing an elder’s finances may exploit this position of trust for personal gain. This can include misusing a power of attorney, pressuring the elder to transfer property or assets, or exerting undue influence to control the elder’s finances for their own benefit.
Deceptive Marketing or Sales Practices:
Some unscrupulous businesses or individuals may target older adults with deceptive marketing tactics or high-pressure sales techniques to convince them to purchase unnecessary products or services. This could include overcharging for goods or services, selling counterfeit or substandard products, or using misleading advertising to exploit the elder’s vulnerabilities.
Financial Abuse in Institutional Settings:
Elders residing in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or other institutional settings may be vulnerable to financial abuse by staff members or fellow residents. This can involve theft of personal belongings or valuables, unauthorized use of financial accounts, or fraudulent billing practices by the facility.
Coerced Property Transfers or Changes to Legal Documents:
Perpetrators of financial elder abuse may coerce or manipulate elders into transferring ownership of property, changing beneficiaries on insurance policies or wills, or making other significant changes to legal documents that are not in the elder’s best interest. This can occur through threats, intimidation, or undue influence exerted by family members, caregivers, or other individuals.
Identifying Instances of Financial Exploitation
- Has your money been taken or spent without your permission?
- Has anyone sold or used your belongings without your consent, such as bank or credit cards, checks, personal property, or documents?
- Have you been coerced into signing legal documents that you didn’t understand?
- Has someone forced, convinced, or deceived you into relinquishing ownership of your possessions, including bank accounts, credit cards, property deeds, personal belongings, or other documents?
- Has anyone impersonated you to obtain goods or money?
- Has someone withheld money that rightfully belongs to you?
- Have you been prevented from using your own money or kept in the dark about information regarding your finances?
If you fall victim to a scam, consider taking the following steps, which are not exhaustive:
- Notify local law enforcement agencies such as the police, sheriff, County District Attorney, IC3, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about the scam.
- If you are an older or dependent adult, contact Adult Protective Services for assistance.
- If the scam involves a bank transaction, report it to your bank.
- If you experience identity theft, submit an Identity Theft Report at https://identitytheft.gov. Keep an eye on your credit report, and request a credit freeze and fraud alert from the credit bureaus.
- In case of technology-related fraud, reset your electronic devices like computers, phones, tablets, etc., to remove any viruses or fraudulent applications.
- If you encounter intra-family fraud, invalidate any power of attorney or other documents used in the fraud, and consider pursuing an elder abuse restraining order.
- Seek legal advice to explore potential avenues for recovering your money through civil litigation. Free legal assistance is available to individuals aged 60 and above residing in San Diego or Imperial County. If applicable, reach out to us via our contact details provided.
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