ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
225,000 Reported Cases Of Elder Abuse Annually In California
Estimated That Only 1 In 40 Cases Reported
Protecting Seniors From Financial Elder Abuse
Elder abuse—especially financial exploitation—continues to affect thousands of seniors each year, often going unreported and committed by both strangers and trusted individuals.
- According to the California Department of Justice, there are over 225,000 reported cases of elder abuse every year, with the majority of reported cases involving financial elder abuse.
- The California Association of Area Agencies on Aging estimates that only 1 in 44 cases of elder financial abuse are actually reported.
- Experts (and our own experience at Evans Law Firm) confirm that abuse can come from strangers, caregivers, insurance agents, advisors, second spouses, girlfriends or boyfriends, neighbors and trusted family members. In short, anyone.
- Seniors and their families can protect themselves by freezing credit cards they do not use, safeguarding all confidential information including especially online banking log-in information and Social Security numbers, and setting account alerts.
The costs of financial elder abuse are staggering. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported $4.8 billion in financial elder abuse losses from 147,127 complaints in 2024, marking significant increases from the previous year. In just the State of California alone, losses from elder fraud totaled over $832 million.
Evans Law Firm, Inc. fights for elder abuse victims in Santa Clara County and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and California against those responsible for abuse. If you or someone you know is the victim of elder abuse here in Santa Clara County or elsewhere in California, call us today at 415-441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Protecting Seniors From Financial Elder Abuse
Engage as frequently as you can with older loved ones if they are alone and check-in on them in their home. If they mention a new “friend” or “helper” who has entered their life, find out what is going on and watch the relationship closely; isolated seniors are vulnerable to persons posing as friends. Review your older loved one’s bank account statements monthly to make sure there is no suspicious activity in their account. If they have any kind of business, investment or banking meeting, go with them. Do not let older persons go to business meetings with bankers, insurance agents, retirement planners or investment advisors alone.
If your loved one needs in-home care, always do a background check on any caregiver before he or she is hired. Ask for references and check them. Once the caregiver is on the job have the timecards sent to you so you can verify their accuracy. There are other important steps to follow as well to prevent more elaborate schemes of financial abuse. Careful monitoring of a senior’s checking account – and close review of cancelled checks – may have caught the reported fraud in this case sooner than eight or nine months. Always monitor a senior loved one’s checking account; take a look at it online every day if you can. Never, ever give a caregiver a Power of Attorney, credit card, or a blank check. Stay involved in any senior loved one’s life so a stranger does not have the opportunity for this kind of theft and exploitation.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one been the victim of any form of elder abuse in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California, contact Evans Law Firm, Inc. and Ingrid M. Evans at (415) 441-8669, or toll-free at 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267)or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with all types of elder abuse, including physical and financial elder abuse, investment and securities fraud and annuity fraud. We can help guide your case through a jury trial, or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
