Financial exploitation of seniors: how to protect yourself and loved ones

Beckley, WV (WVNS) - On Tuesday, March 26, Fayette County deputies arrested a caretaker for stealing money from her elderly client. Susan Harrah allegedly took the victim's credit card without permission and used it at multiple locations.

Social worker at the Raleigh County Commission on Aging, Crystal Foley, said financial exploitation of senior citizens is not uncommon and comes in many forms.

"Whether it's a scam, whether its stealing out of their checkbook, going out grocery shopping for them and taking some off the top before you give them their checkbook back..." Foley said.

She said it is important to educate the elderly on what to look for and how to protect themselves. Foley advised to never give a caretaker access to your finances, regularly check bank accounts, and hire caretakers from an agency that requires background checks.

"Seniors are a vulnerable population anyway and then if you open up your home to a perfect stranger that doesn't have anyone backing up their credibility, then you open up a whole new set of issues that can come out of it," Foley said.

She also said just because a person is a close family friend does not mean they can be trusted as a caretaker. In fact, she said a lot of financial exploitation cases come from family or close friends.

"If you can avoid letting them have access to that family member's financial matters...do that," Foley explained.

If you think you or a loved one might be a victim of financial exploitation, contact local law enforcement immediately. You can also reach out to adult protective services or your local commission on aging for more information.

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Financial exploitation of seniors: how to protect yourself and loved ones

New Law Protecting Against Senior Financial Exploitation Goes Into Effect

Financial advisers now have more power to stop scammers from targeting senior citizens. The Safe Seniors Financial Protection Act went into effect Aug. 1.

It creates a stronger partnership between those advisers and the Minnesota Commerce Department.

"Telephone and email scams are growing, every day there's more and more of them," said Mary McDougall, a wealth management adviser and senior vice president for Merrill Lynch.

McDougall sees firsthand how frequently seniors are taken advantage of by both strangers and relatives.

"My guess is one out of four of my clients has had some kind of request from their children," she said.

The requests can amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

"I may be able to say that might not be a good idea and if they insist on it then this law will allow me to help them by asking the state to investigate," said McDougall.

The new law gives broker-dealers and investment advisers the power to report to the Department of Commerce when they see someone trying to financially exploit the elderly or vulnerable adults.

They can also freeze transactions on the account for up to 15 days while investigators look into it. If they need more time, investigators can request the transaction delay continue for another 10 days.

"That’s a great backstop and I’m glad it's there," said McDougall.

She told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that one of the biggest ways seniors can protect themselves is talking to people, whether it's tax, financial or legal advisers, or getting advice from neighbors and other family members.

"Being able just to talk about it before it happens is a great thing to establish as a norm," she said. "I think would help stop a lot of things."

McDougall believes this law will help with those conversations. It allows financial professionals to loop in a third party, someone who the victim trusts, to talk it through.

She told us her firm already has in-house investigators who look into suspected abuse. If they find it happening, they already report it to the state.

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New Law Protecting Against Senior Financial Exploitation Goes Into Effect

Lawmakers Advance Bill to Prevent Financial Exploitation of Seniors

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A legislative committee advanced a bill aimed at preventing the financial exploitation of seniors.

It would clarify the intent of older Mainers when opening a joint financial account.

Often times, a caretaker or family member will help control finances for the elderly.

This bill would require each owner of the joint account to answer in writing whether they intend to leave the account to the surviving party in the event of his or her death.

“They just don’t realize that when they do that any funds in those accounts become the property of the survivor no matter what their will says. And this is a very simple bill that says when you open the joint account, each party needs to say that it is my intent that upon my demise these funds belong to the survivor, which means at least they know there’s another option,” said Rep. Thomas Longstaff, (D) the bill’s sponsor.

The bill now heads to the full legislature for a vote.

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Lawmakers Advance Bill to Prevent Financial Exploitation of Seniors