How To Avoid Elder Fraud

By Diane Anderson


Frauds have been common in different areas and have gone unreported for quite a long time as well. Caregivers and family members to the affected seniors stand in the first line of defense against such instances. They have a role in protecting their seniors to ensure that they enjoy their financial freedom. Here are a few practical measures on how to avoid elder fraud that one should take note.

Acquaint with different aspects that relate to the frauds. It is hard to deal with something which you are not familiar with. Therefore, you need to learn different kinds of scams to be aware of them in case they fall to your elder. Common activities that might affect the seniors include a real estate scam, a health scam, insurance scam, and lottery fraud.

Check in regularly with the elder. A family member or a friend should be aware of every financial transaction made by the senior. You should discuss vital aspects such as commercial emails, financial transactions, bills, and other aspects that the seniors are not familiar with. Making such a decision will give you an insight into the situation and confirm whether it is real or a scam.

Learn how you can recognize a fraud. Seniors are usually shy when they have incurred a fraudulent situation. However, in one way or another you can realize such a situation. For instance, if you find the affected person having a change of behavior, it might be an indicator of a scam. Apart from that, if you are aware of their banking habits and find unpaid bills or unusual signature, it might be an indicator of a scam.

Take over their vital documents. At some point, seniors end up failing to cater to their financial responsibilities due to adverse age or sickness. At that point, a close relative or an attorney should assume their role in their financial obligations. Therefore, they should take charge of documents such as the wills, HIPAA release documents, and healthcare proxy.

Appoint an additional person to verify the transaction. Most people tend to limit the verification members to the lawyer of their senior and close relatives for security matters. However, it is recommendable to have an additional member who is trustworthy enough to put the interest of the senior first. Most senior might go against such decisions, but their close members should help them understand the importance of such consideration.

Do away with any information related to the particular senior on public platforms. Most scammers find information related to their target senior on public avenues. You need to remove their details from such channels if it does not serve any interest to a senior. The best way to deal with this situation is helping the senior sign a National Do Not Call form. This burrs telemarketers from accessing any information about the senior.

Always get information about such a situation at all times. There are new and complex scamming techniques used every day. It is necessary to acquaint with these techniques to be in a position to avoid them. The internet has quite a lot of sources that one can rely on. Besides that, you can get precise information from agencies involved in this kind of cases.




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