Protect your loved ones: Recent caregiver arrest highlights rising elder exploitation, fraud

By Monica Casey, WRAL reporter 

A Durham County caregiver bonded out $50,000 Thursday on recent charges of exploiting her client for check fraud.

She isn’t the first health aide accused of scamming her clients. 

WRAL News has long covered the unfortunate trend of vulnerable adults needing care who were taken advantage of by their caregivers. 

In 2020, a licensed practical nurse at a Smithfield nursing home was charged with stealing a patient’s identity and accused of racking up loans and credit card charges under his name. 

In 2023, family members of Karen Rogers, who died that year, noticed their mother’s personal belongings, such as jewelry, medication and checks from her bank account, were missing. 

Betsy Robertson was charged after investigators said she used Rogers’ financial information to make several transactions totaling thousands of dollars. Investigators then determined she had previous, similar charges where she was accused of felony larceny from a healthcare client. 

In April 2025, eight people were arrested for stealing $40,000 from an elderly victim in a scam that started in 2023. 

Fraud doesn’t always happen directly to the victim. 

In 2023, Furman Ford was sentenced to 17 years in prison for a years-long conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud and identity theft through his company IAM Healthcare.

Ford oversaw a scheme to trick group homes into providing client Medicare information through IAM, then used the information to submit Medicare claims on behalf of the elderly and disabled beneficiaries.

In total, Ford caused more than $500,000 to be billed to Medicare through his company.

The AARP found that more than 369,000 incidents of financial abuse targeting older adults are reported in the U.S. each year. According to the Federal Trade Commission, overall theft through fraud may have been as high as $158.3 billion in 2023 alone. 

Chatham County Sheriff’s Office staff sergeant over investigations, Rob Miller, said exploitation of the elderly or adults who require private care is happening more often. 

“These people prey on elderly people because they're easily not catching money missing and things like that,” Miller said. 

Some say the primary problem is the shortage of direct care workers.

“The key is to do is due diligence, to make sure that you’ve tried to anything you can, to make sure that the person who is going to be working with you or a loved one, has the best qualifications, has reputable background, you know, all of those kinds of things,” said William Lamb, a board member for Friends of Residents.

He said the reality is, the people who need care are vulnerable.

“Oftentimes, they don’t have the capacity, or they have limited capacity to really fend for themselves.”

Regardless of whether family members invest in private duty care or agency-based care, Lamb said it is important to understand the qualifications of the person they invite into their home or the agency taking care of their loved ones.

“What their background, what their reputation is, what feedback you can get from other employers, so that it’s not just a cold call or a cold response, inviting that person into your home,” Lamb said. “What agency is it? What is the reputation in the community? How long have they been in the community? Are they accredited or certified?”

Lamb said most of the care that is provided is good for the elderly.

"The vast majority of care is given by agencies who have good reputations, and by caregivers who are providing care and support to individuals from their hearts," Lamb said. "This is difficult work at best."

To help protect loved ones from potential fraud by a caregiver or health aid, local and national officials offer the following advice:

• Secure financial documents in a locked file cabinet.
• Always require receipts for purchases made by caregivers or helpers. 
• Regularly monitor bank accounts and telephone bills and review credit reports. Consider an automatic bill pay system or setting up transaction alerts that a trusted third party can also monitor. 
• Do not allow hired caregivers to open mail, pay bills or manage finances. 
• Never lend employees money or personal property.
• Do not allow caregivers to use your credit or debit card for errands or purchases.
• Secure valuables such as jewelry and other valuable personal property.  

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Protect your loved ones: Recent caregiver arrest highlights rising elder exploitation, fraud