Financial exploitation occurs when there is an illegal use of a vulnerable adult’s resources for another person’s gain. The vulnerable adult is at least 60 years of age, or disabled and between 18 and 59. Nationwide, financial exploitation is the third most frequent type of abuse, neglect and/or exploitation of vulnerable adults.
There are two types of financial crimes committed against older adults: financial abuse, committed by someone you know, and financial fraud, committed by a stranger. Both result in serious financial, physical, and emotional harm to older adults.
Unfortunately, there are many different ways to financially exploit an older adult. It is not possible to list them all, but there are two common categories to keep in mind, those of “Predators” and “Opportunists.”
Predators are individuals who purposefully seek out vulnerable older adults with the intent to defraud them or otherwise financially exploit them. Examples of this kind of financial abuse include: telemarketing, Lottery scams, homeowner/reverse mortgage scams, email/phishing scams, imposter scams (someone impersonates a grandchild or other relative and says they urgently need money wired to get out of trouble.)
Opportunists, on the other hand, are those who end up financially exploiting an older person because the opportunity arose, usually due to a relationship between the older person and the one who ends up exploiting the situation. Examples of this type of financial abuse might include: using an older parent’s ATM card without their permission, forging or misusing an older person’s checks, using the authority granted by a power of attorney to use the older person’s funds for one’s own needs, and pressuring an older parent into paying expenses for oneself or for someone else. Such opportunistic abuse can be committed by family members, paid home care providers, or even trusted people outside the home, such as financial advisors or spiritual advisors.
Financial exploitation of the elderly and disabled is a crime. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has launched a program called MOSAFE—Missourians Stopping Adult Financial Exploitation –to combat it. MOSAFE educates financial institutions and you, as a consumer, on how to stop attempted or ongoing financial exploitation before a senior or disabled adult’s funds are depleted.
If you suspect an elderly or disabled Missourian is being exploited financially, call the toll free Adult and Abuse and Neglect Hotline at: 1-800-392-0210 or make a report online at health.mo.gov/abuse.
You may also contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222, to report scams and cons of any type, including those that deal with telemarketing, the Internet, email, financing, and home and car repairs.
For information regarding investments and fraud protection, or for information regarding a company or representative, visit the Secretary of State’s Missouri Investor Protection Center or call the toll free investor protection hotline at 1-800-721-7996.
