Knoxville (TN) WATE
Seniors targeted by Medicare scheme
The Better Business Bureau in East Tennessee and across the country has received calls from seniors being targeted for Medicare fraud.
2013-03-22
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Durango (CO) Herald
Protect aging parents: Listen, question, act
The turmoil brought on by the recession and sustained low interest rates have pushed many seniors to seek investment alternatives to provide them the income they had planned to live on during retirement. As a result, seniors now make up 30 percent of fraud victims.
2011-08-30
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Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal - New Era
Scammed: Seniors fall prey
The good news is that most phone and mail scams reported to local police are unsuccessful, perhaps due in part to increased education and awareness.
2011-08-21
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Fox Business
How to Detect and Prevent Elderly Financial Abuse
Tragically, some nefarious souls take economic advantage of older relatives who are in compromised physical, emotional or mental positions. Whether you're a senior citizen or have one in your life, it is important to know what financial elderly abuse is all about, and how you can prevent and recover from it.
2011-08-05
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Salem (OR) News
Financial Abuse of Older American has increased since 2008: Fraud Perpetuated by Strangers Is Most Common
Crimes involving strangers as the perpetrators made up more than half (51%) of reported cases of elder financial abuse, followed by crimes involving family, friends and neighbors as perpetrators (34%). Exploitation from the business sector accounted for 12% of reported cases. Medicare and Medicaid fraud accounts for 4% of reported cases.
2011-06-01
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MSN - Health
5 Signs a Caregiver Is Stealing From You
Talk to anyone who's hired someone to help care for an older loved one, and theft is almost always a major worry. Bringing a paid caregiver into the home -- whether through an agency or privately -- can come as welcome relief to all, but it can also feel like a risky decision.
2011-03-01
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Ithaca (NY) Journal
Security a concern at retirement communities
Families who are considering placing a relative in an adult-care facility should also ask questions about visitors' policies, room security and the safeguarding of residents' valuables, according the heads of adult care facility trade groups.
2011-02-19
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Wall Street Journal
Fraud Alert
Scam artists increasingly are targeting people trying to repair their nest eggs. Here's what to watch for.
2010-05-15
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Boston (MA) Globe
Home-care system leaves elderly at risk, auditor says
A $332 million state program that oversees home health care services for about 18,000 elderly and disabled residents is vulnerable to fraud and has employed personal care attendants who have committed felonies, including manslaughter, assault, and threatening to commit murder, according to a report released yesterday by the Office of the State Auditor.
2009-10-15
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Des Moines (IA) Radio Iowa
Senior citizens warned of increase in scams
Senior citizens in Iowa are being warned of a dramatic increase in telephone scams. Jim Hegarty, of the Better Business Bureau, says because of the depressed economy, more people are looking to make a quick buck and the elderly are often easy targets.
2009-10-09
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Nashville (TN) Tennessean
Severe underreporting of elderly abuse should worry officials
What constitutes abuse against older people? It can run the gamut, from denying ailing elderly people food, medicine or help with hygiene to ignoring people with Alzheimer's or dementia who may get disoriented and wander from their home. It even extends to physical abuse or murder. Sadly, the perpetrators are most often their own children or, ironically, their caregivers.
2009-08-20
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Dallas (TX) WFAA-TV
Aging in America: Steering seniors clear of scams
A nice nest egg and a trusting character combine to make seniors an enticing target for scams.
2009-08-18
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MedicineNet
Elder Abuse, Neglect Make Early Death Far More Likely
The study points to an imminent problem, according to Dr. Karin Ouchida, medical director of the Montefiore Medical Center Home Health Agency in New York City.
2009-08-04
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Providence (RI) Journal
Financial abuse of elderly on the rise
Fraud is bad enough, but when you have family members or caregivers who are financially abusing their elderly relatives or patients, that’s downright despicable. And yet, in most of the cases of elder financial abuse, the perpetrators are not strangers.
2009-07-19
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Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun
Seniors increasingly targeted by abusers
The National Center on Elder Abuse in Newark, Del., estimates that more than 1 million seniors suffer abuse or neglect each year. ... Seniors who live alone or do not have family and friends checking in on them are at the greatest risk of becoming abused.
2009-07-18
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Wichita (KS) KSCW-TV
How to protect yourself against elder abuse
Older adults may face a higher risk of getting treated improperly. ... This could include physical abuse, emotional mistreatment, neglect or financial scams. ... If you are a senior, don't let yourself be a target. Protect yourself from being abused in these ways:
2009-07-18
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Springfield (IL) State Journal-Register
Frequently asked questions about elder abuse
Elder abuse is a term referring to any negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to a vulnerable older adult. ... Educating seniors, professionals, caregivers and the public on abuse is critical to prevention.
2009-07-08
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Akron (OH) Beacon Journal
Seniors targeted
The scam takes root when the recipient calls the number and is asked to provide personal credit card information for a ''processing fee.'' ''This is a scam,'' Walsh said in an e-mail to the media Wednesday. ''Do not provide your credit card information or Social Security number to anyone.
2009-05-14
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Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution
Senior citizens learn to stick up for selves
Self-defense classes provide exercise and build confidence. At the heart of it is the safety factor. ... Tony Aderhold, a crime prevention specialist and senior instructor at the Fulton County Police Academy, shares his favorite lessons in avoiding assaults and fighting back
2009-04-27
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Fort Myers (FL) News-Press
Aging gracefully: Exploitation a risk in Alzheimer's
For older persons who are experiencing early stage memory impairment, the task of managing household finances becomes increasingly difficult. Some are able to recognize the difficulty and ask for help from trusted family members or friends. Meanwhile, others struggle with the task which may in turn put them at risk of exploitation. As the person with memory impairment begins to have difficulty with routine tasks such as paying bills, balancing the checkbook, and managing daily finances, he becomes more vulnerable to scams, solicitations, and exploitation.
2009-04-07
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Wall Street Journal
Checking Out Elder Caregivers
Before bringing a caregiver into an aging parent’s home, it’s crucial to know exactly who you are hiring. That’s especially true for affluent consumers, and perhaps even more so now due to the troubled economy. Screening candidates and setting up safeguards, particularly for frail or cognitively impaired parents, is vital.
2009-03-26
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MSNBC - Health
Mentally ill endanger nursing home patients
Over the past several years, nursing homes have become dumping grounds for young and middle-age people with mental illness, according to Associated Press interviews and an analysis of data from all 50 states. And that has proved a prescription for violence, as Jackson's case and others across the country illustrate.
2009-03-22
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Salisbury (NC) Post
Beware of Social Security e-mail scam
Social Security advises to always take precautions when giving out personal information. You should never provide your Social Security number, bank account number or other personal information over the Internet (or the telephone) unless either you initiated the contact or you are confident of the identity of the person to whom you are speaking. If in doubt, do not release information.
2009-02-27
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USA Today
Senior citizens can lose life savings via power of attorney
Vulnerable senior citizens are increasingly losing their life savings to unscrupulous individuals who have power of attorney over their finances, the AARP says in a report set to be released Thursday.
2008-12-04
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Chipley (FL) Foster Folly News
Senior Citizens Should Beware of Costly "Grandchild Scheme"
Attorney General Bill McCollum and AARP today issued a consumer advisory about an emerging telephone scam that is preying on grandparents nationwide. The advisory follows the Better Business Bureau’s recent report that grandparents are being taken advantage of by Canadian con artists claiming to be their victims’ grandchildren in need of emergency cash.
2008-10-31
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Des Moines (IA) Register
Scam targets senior citizens
Senior citizens in Johnston are being asked by police to be very leery of callers identifying themselves as relatives in need of money.
2008-10-31
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Toronto (Canada) Sun
'Distraction thefts' target seniors
The victims are being watched as they take money from bank machines and tellers, and then followed ...
2008-10-24
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Allentown (PA) Morning Call
Senior citizens often targeted by thieves
Many scams are pointed at senior citizens. Some, alone
2008-10-09
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Wall Street Journal
To Be Old, Frail And Evicted: Patients at Risk
Across the country, nursing homes are forcing out frail and ill residents. While federal law permits nursing-home evictions in some circumstances, state officials and patient advocates say facilities often go too far, seeking to evict those who are merely inconvenient or too costly.
2008-08-07
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ABC News
Seniors at Risk: Sex Offenders, Parolees Living at Nursing Homes
Hundreds of thousands of senior citizens are at risk because they are living among registered sex offenders, parolees and residents with violent histories, according to a nursing home watchdog who studied residents at nursing homes, assisted living homes and long term care facilities.
2008-07-22
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Portland (OR) Tribune
Senior care center faulted: Verdict exposes wider problems at Avamere, for-profit facilities
An unprecedented verdict against a Lake Oswego senior care facility last month levied more than $900,000 in damages for an incident that left an 86-year-old woman bruised and in handcuffs.
2008-06-19
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Lake Oswego (OR) West Linn Tidings
A verdict that is putting care facilities on notice
Victims of neglect at care facilities and their family hope the recent court decision against Avamere will prevent future abuses from happening
2008-06-19
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Lake Oswego (OR) West Linn Tidings
Avamere verdict points to disturbing care facility trend
Last month, a Multnomah County jury awarded what is believed to be the largest punitive verdict ever handed to an Oregon care facility for compromising the safety and dignity of an elderly person.
2008-06-12
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Minneapolis-St Paul (MN) Star Tribune
Preying on the elderly: when family fleece family
When money goes missing from a vulnerable adult, sometimes investigators need look no further than a close relative or longtime family friend and caregiver.
2008-05-28
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Manchester (CT) Journal Inquirer
Not-so golden years
Many people look forward to retirement. They anticipate spending their golden years in the company of friends and family, perhaps enjoying some favorite hobbies. Some senior citizens reside with their grown children and may come to depend on them for help with every day life. In many cultures around the world, adult children care for their elderly parents, but what happens if the parent-child relationship sours? Reports of elder abuse by grown children are on the increase, and as baby boomers age, the problem is not likely to go away.
2008-05-19
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Ft. Lauderdale (FL) Sun-Sentinel
Florida bills to protect seniors target assisted living, annuities
Florida senior citizens could receive more consumer protections regarding their investments and assisted-living housing under two measures working their way through the state Legislature during its ongoing session. One proposal would increase criminal penalties and fines for financial services sales agents who knowingly sell seniors unsuitable annuities, or who prey on those with dementia. The bill also takes a harder look at some of the new titles salespeople claim give them special expertise in managing retirees' money. The second measure would increase background checks for both residents and employees of assisted-living facilities, as well as give stricter guidelines for discharging residents.
2008-04-16
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U.S. News & World Report
Why Seniors Are Targeted
The FBI recently posted new information about fraud and senior citizens ,,,
2008-04-14
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ABC News
Cracking Down on Elder Abuse
Although it’s unclear if the bill will pass this session, supporters say it’s a start to protecting the elderly from abuse. The bill would also allow officials to withhold the suspect’s passport to prevent that person from fleeing the country.
2008-03-19
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