ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
All Seniors Are Potential Victims
Watching Out For Fraud And Financial Elder Abuse
Protecting Your Older Loved Ones
The National Council on Aging says up to five million older Americans are abused yearly, and the annual loss by victims of financial elder abuse is estimated to be at least $36.5 billion. Parties responsible for any form of abuse and neglect, and those who assist them, may be liable for their actions under California Law. See Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.07 (definition of abuse), 15610.30 (definition of financial abuse including assistance with financial abuse), 15610.57 (definition of neglect), and 15610.63 (definition of physical abuse). California broadly defines what constitutes financial elder abuse:
(a) “Financial abuse” of an elder or dependent adult occurs when a person or entity does any of the following:
(1) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(2) Assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(3) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains, or assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining, real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult by undue influence, as defined in Section 15610.70.
If you or a loved one is a victim of elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect or caregiver fraud or caregiver theft in Santa Clara County or elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Watching Out For Scammers
A Local Police Department in Los Altos reported that approximately 20.8% of the Los Altos population is reported to be over the age of 65. Since the beginning of the year, the Los Altos Police Department has responded to numerous elder abuse reports, 12 resulting in charges, according to Sgt. Steve Spillman. Additionally, the department has received 23 Adult Protective Services reports and 17 identity theft and check fraud cases that reportedly involved an elderly victim. Spillman, responsible for a number of public-facing informational events related to elder abuse, said that most elder abuse cases are financial. While sometimes the criminal is someone known to the victim, most cases the department responds to are perpetrated by strangers. A case where the elder is being abused financially by a relative or someone they know is “pretty rare,” he said. Oftentimes, victims of financial elder abuse fall to email or text message scams. Familiar to almost anyone who has an email address or cellphone number, these scams often present as a message from a known company – think Amazon, Fastrak or a financial institution – about a missing payment or an account overdraw. The message will include a link, which will give the hacker access to a device, Spillman said.
Protecting Yourself From Fraud
“That’s one of the things I do try to tell individuals when I’m presenting as well, that the sophistication level has bumped up several notches and all criminals have to do in this case is find a recording of a family member, then they can input that into a program and have a perfect copy of someone’s voice,” Sgt. Spillman said. “We’re at that state in technology where you can’t trust even someone’s voice that you recognize.” Spillman also noted he’s been telling elders to be wary of cryptocurrency as it’s been a way for criminals to scam people out of money.Other scams – which Spillman said the department saw an increase in earlier this year – include a sleight of hand or distraction resulting in the theft of an elder’s credit or debit card. The criminal will watch the elder as they’re using a checkout machine, take note of the pin the elder used, then do something that will allow them to interact closely with the elder.
“Usually, what (the scammer will) do is they’ll drop a bank note or an item of cash on the ground, and then they’ll get the victim’s attention and say, ‘Hey, I think you dropped this.’ And then they’ll hand the bill to the, usually, senior or elder,” he said. After handing the bill to the elder, the scammer will either steal the person’s credit card using sleight of hand or will further distract them as the ATM machine ejects their credit card, which the scammer then steals. “Then they’ll have the pin, they’ll have the ATM card, and then they’ll quickly go to another bank and withdraw cash or make a purchase,” he said.
Contact Us
If you sense any kind of abuse of an older loved one, or caregiver fraud or caregiver theft from them, here in Santa Clara County or elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, call us right away. Ingrid M. Evans has years of experience in representing seniors and their families against abusers of any kind, including cases of caregiver fraud or caregiver theft against in-home caregivers. You can reach us at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
