It seems that calls to my office that paint a picture of financial fraud of the elderly are increasing. Apparently, the statistics show that 1/5th of Americans older than 65 have been the victim of some sort of financial swindle. That’s 7.3 million seniors! Elder financial abuse is becoming the crime of the 21st century as…
Category Archives: Elder Abuse
Beware Annuity Sharks?
The March 22, 2009 edition of The Columbus Dispatch advised “Advice for Elderly Beware Annuity Sharks“. This article, written by Steve Wartenberg, told the story of a blind woman with dementia who had just moved into a nursing home. With all of these health issues going on, she was advised to cash in her current…
Keeping the Wolves from Grandma’s Door: Financial Exploitation of the Elderly
One of my prior posts mentioned World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. On that day, the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) held meetigs at the United Nations and one of the speakers was Sally Hurme, Coordinator, Outreach & Service, AARP Financial Protection. Sally’s speech focused on ways to protect the elderly from…
Is a Durable Power of Attorney a "License to Steal"?
A June 5, 2006 BusinessWeek article discusses whether a Durable Power of Attorney is a “License to Steal” from seniors. In that case, an 87 year old woman had named her son as her attorney-in-fact and a few years later, a few hundred thousand of her hard-earned dollars were now in her son’s account –…
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Today was the first “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day”, launched at UN Headquarters in New York City, which calls for people to wear something purple to show support. This day was established by the INPEA (International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse), which is a standing committee of the International Association of Gerontology (IAG)….