DU Expands Efforts to Protect Older Adults From Financial Fraud

by Connor Mokrzycki

Older Americans are at high risk for financial fraud, losing more than $20 billion annually, according to a 2023 report from AARP. To help protect this vulnerable population in the state of Colorado, the Paul Freeman Financial Security Program (PFFSP) in DU’s Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging formed a coalition in 2023, thanks to support from the federally funded National Center for State and Tribal Elder Justice Coalitions.

The coalition is an interdisciplinary group made up of state and local agencies, elder advocacy organizations and DU researchers whose goal is to evaluate the complex issues related to elder financial fraud and develop possible solutions for prevention. The PFFSP team is tasked with building the coalition, developing tools and trainings for frontline workers, and creating a central hub for information and resources.

In April, the coalition held their inaugural meeting and announced an expanded collaboration with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), the top consumer protection agency in the state. DORA’s Financial Engagement Unit joins other members including the Office of Governor Jared Polis, the offices of the state and Denver district attorneys, the Colorado Office of Financial Empowerment, AARP ElderWatch and AgeWise Colorado.       

Eric Chess, clinical professor and director of PFFSP, says the massive amount of money lost to exploitation is just the tip of the iceberg. “When people lose money, it affects their emotional health, their mental health, their cognitive health and entire well-being,” he says. “This includes worsening chronic diseases and symptoms that you see in the doctor's office.” 

At the root of the problem is the little-understood connection between health and finances, which can turn into a vicious cycle, Chess says. “The first signs of clinical cognitive impairment are often seen in impaired financial decision making, which leaves individuals at an increased risk of exploitation or fraud—which in turn can worsen cognitive health.” 

PFFSP aims to highlight the importance of understanding this connection as they develop frameworks and tools to protect and improve mental, physical and financial health of people as they age.

However, Chess notes, the issue is a concern not just for older adults. “Older adults get taken for more money—often because they have more money—and they also have less ability to recover from financial loss than younger folks. But it's also under-appreciated that younger adults actually get taken advantage of more often, just for lesser amounts.” What’s more, “The older adults of tomorrow are today's kids. So, if you're really going to tackle all these issues, you have to look at it throughout the life spectrum.”

Chess and his team are also developing a financial vulnerability scale that would alert individuals when they are vulnerable to financial exploitation and, crucially, provide detailed insight into why. 

“A key issue is that people are vulnerable for different reasons—it can be from a social standpoint, a behavioral standpoint, or a cognitive standpoint. There are a lot of different areas of vulnerability—and it's necessary to have (multidisciplinary) expertise be part of building the scale.”

Bringing policymakers, government agencies and, in particular, frontline workers into the conversation is crucial to successfully develop and implement any solution to combat financial fraud and abuse. “They have to be part of this equation,” Chess says. “You cannot try to create academic solutions and then impose them on the community and the people who are doing the work.”

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DU Expands Efforts to Protect Older Adults From Financial Fraud