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Rising Scams of Financial Elder Abuse

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“The Rising Scams of Financial Elder Abuse” by Attorney Alicia Balanesi (Audio)

All across the world, new telemarketing scams are coming to light that target the elderly. Just in the past couple of weeks, I came across someone who had recently been scammed by a new online attraction and lost thousands of dollars which are now unrecoverable.

One in five adults over the age of 65 has been a victim of fraud resulting in almost 28.3 billion dollars of losses every year according to new warnings issued by the FBI. Many victims, however, do not even report being scammed due to embarrassment. Additionally, the current tax code provides no relief or exceptions for victims who have been scammed and may have been forced into withdrawing funds from their retirement accounts.

While some of the victims are targeted by online scammers, a significant number of elders fall victim to people they know. Often it has been a neighbor, an advisor, or even a trusted family member. Telemarketing fraud is the largest of the online scammers and it is important to assist your elderly loved ones with online banking and transactions.

To make sure we are protecting our loved ones, one of the key documents you want to be sure you have in place to assist your elderly loved ones from being scammed is a financial Power of Attorney so that you can help with their finances and protecting their assets from scammers. A financial Power of Attorney identifies the individuals that you trust that will help you manage your affairs if you are incapacitated; or, simply if you just want some additional help to pay your bills because it is getting more difficult for you to handle those matters. Instead of a neighbor, or perhaps a financial advisor, it is your agent that you will have nominated to help you during those times who will step forward and assist you. We can assist you with the preparation of a Power of Attorney at Sinclair Prosser Gasior.

You also want to be sure you let your loved ones know where to find online account information and keep your passwords in a safe, secure location in your home with only the most trusted individuals, your agents, knowing of their location.

If you are concerned about an elderly loved one and would like to have a consultation to discuss their care, please give Sinclair Prosser Gasior a call, and we would be glad to assist.

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