World Elder Abuse Awareness Day event held at the Larry R. Jackson Branch of the Lakeland Public Library.
“You don’t have to see or prove it,” she said. “If you suspect it, report it.”
Henderson moderated the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day event held at the Larry R. Jackson Branch of the Lakeland Public Library on Friday.
“Check on your elderly family and friends,” Henderson said. Isolation is the number one risk factor for the elderly becoming a target of abuse or exploitation, including telephone scammers or fraudulent door-to-door salespeople.
Dick Fearnow, office manager of Seniors vs. Crime, a special project of the Florida Attorney General, used as an example area law enforcement over the years receiving complaints about vacuum salesmen whose main goal was to make their way inside a home and then not leave until the elderly person either purchased the $1,800 vacuum or called police.
High-pressure sales people make the elderly feel like they need to make a decision “right now,” Fearnow said. “Do not let the other party make your decision for you.”
“If you have a gut feeling, pay attention to your gut feeling,” he added. “Never do business with someone who comes to your door, knocking, uninvited.”
Other advice Fearnow gives to seniors is to not participate in contests or surveys. “You are giving information to someone you don’t really want to have it,” he said.
Common scams include the caller saying there is a problem with “suspicious” activity on the person’s social security number, where the caller asks for the person to enter their number. Other times, callers impersonate companies such as Microsoft, saying there is a problem with the software on their computer, and they will send a free update link. When the person opens the link, a virus is downloaded, then not long afterwards, a company calls to say they will fix that person’s computer.
Fearnow said there are about 15,000 people living in Polk County that have some form of dementia, and about half of them live by themselves.
Polk County Clerk of Courts Stacey Butterfield spoke to the group about guardianships for the elderly, and addressed the matter of free court records. Some people receive notices in the mail, she said, saying their service will offer property records for $87.
“You can get that for free,” she said. “I got one in the mail. It is not technically abuse, but an exploitation.”
Cindy Sharp, supervisor of the Lakeland Police Department’s Crime Service Unit, spoke to the isolation aspect of some elderly living alone. One LPD case, she said, involved a welfare check that opened when neighbors noticed that a man’s newspapers were stacking up outside his home. When the officer arrived, some neighbors said the man was a snowbird, someone said he was on vacation. But then the officer saw water trickling down the driveway. Forcing his way into the garage, the man was discovered, having been pinned between his car and the water tank.
As a result of that case, Sharp said, the Lakeland Elderly Assistance Program (LEAP) was developed, where the elderly register with the LPD so police can reach family or resources in a hurry.
The person is given a sticker with numbers on it to put on the outside of the home. Police enter the number from the sticker into their system, which pulls up the emergency contact and other information for the resident. Sharp said there are currently about 753 people in the system.
To register for LEAP, contact Angie Ellis at the LPD at 863-834-6960. To report elderly abuse, call 911 or 1-800-96ABUSE. To report a need for services or resources to help a elderly resident with meals or care, contact 1-800-96ELDER. To report Guardianship Fraud or waste, call the Department of the Inspector General’s fraud hotline at 863-534-7776.
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