Scammers are using new online tools to take advantage of older people.
In October, The New York Times shared an upsetting story about a 79-year-old man who kept falling for online scams. Before he died, he had given about $1 million of his retirement savings to different con artists, which included money meant for his granddaughter’s college fund. He wouldn’t listen to anyone who tried to warn him, even his own son.
Sadly, this happens more often than we think. Additional reporting from The Times shows that about one out of every 18 older adults who are mentally sharp and live in their own homes fall victim to fraud and financial scams each year. What’s more, most of these victims are over 70 years old and they lose an average of almost $42,000.
Studies indicate that older individuals often struggle to tell the difference between real requests and scams, especially with the rise of AI-generated text, audio and images. Clever thieves know this weakness and focus their tactics on these older adults. To protect our loved ones, we need to help them understand how common scams are and teach them how to spot them. However, some people —like the man mentioned in The Times article—may not be able or willing to pay attention, unfortunately, even when they are being deceived.
In these cases, people often ask the court for guardianship (or conservatorship in some states), which means putting a trustworthy person in charge of making financial decisions for someone else. To get guardianship, it’s not just about medical or mental health issues; it’s more about a person’s ability to make decisions. This means that if someone often makes bad choices or doesn’t act in their own best interest, it can show that guardianship is needed.
Five federal financial regulatory agencies, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and state financial regulators issued a statement today on protecting older adults from fraud and financial exploitation: https://t.co/Rl8uysMFaS
— consumerfinance.gov (@CFPB) December 4, 2024
Surely, not everyone who gets tricked by an online scam needs someone to take care of their finances. We’ve seen many smart and successful people openly talk about how they were deceived by scammers in order to help warn others. They were able to realize they were being tricked and fix the situation. Still, many older adults find it hard to accept this truth. As people age, they may have some decline in their thinking abilities, and they might not want to believe they’ve been taken advantage of. Even when there’s clear proof of fraud, they may still give away their money.
Lawyers have observed a considerable rise in cases where older family members who used to be good with money are falling victim to very crafty scams. As a result, families that never thought about getting legal help are now contacting lawyers for assistance, but oftentimes, it’s too late. When planning any proposed actions, the experts say that timing is critical because what older people do can lead to significant problems.
If they lose money, it may become hard for them to stay in their homes and pay for basic needs. In addition, they usually share bank accounts with their partners, who could also struggle to live comfortably or on their own.
In these circumstances, not doing anything is the biggest risk.
The holidays should be a time for happiness, calm and being together. By taking steps to protect and look after our elders, we can help maintain the joyful feeling of the season.
