By Sarah Hall

Editor

Every year, 5 million older adults nationwide fall victim to financial abuse. In New York, that number is 260,000 a year.

State Sen. David Valesky (D-Oneida) is hoping to change that.

“A couple of years ago I chaired the Aging Committee in the senate, which is when got interested in this issue,” said Valesky, who represents the 53rd State Senate District. “Several organizations, the AARP being one of them, that focus on elder issues have been increasingly able to document these cases of financial elder abuse, and [they] said, ‘Hey, wait a minute if we’re really going to do something about it, we don’t have laws that are strong enough on the books to really make a dent in this problem.’”

So Valesky, with the assistance of the AARP, drafted and introduced legislation that would allow banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to stop a transaction if they suspect the account holder is a victim of financial abuse. The bill, S1093, passed the Senate unanimously on March 2. A similar bill, A6099, is in committee in the State Assembly. The governor has also introduced a similar proposal in his executive budget.

“Currently, there is nothing in law that gives banks and other financial institutions any ability, based on a suspicion of abuse, they can’t do anything about it based on a lack of appropriate legal authority,” Valesky said. “It’s a fairly simple concept. There would be training that would be provided for bank tellers and others on the signs to look for. Then if they did have a suspicion that financial elder abuse was about to occur, they could refuse to follow through with whatever the transaction request might be.”

Elder financial abuse is a growing problem, according to the AARP, as the Baby Boomer generation ages — some 10,000 people turn 65 every day. Between 2010 and 2014, reported cases of elder financial abuse have risen 35 percent.

According to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department, it’s something local law enforcement deals with regularly.

“Unfortunately this happens far to often,” said Sgt. Jon Seeber. “We receive several case every year about family members taking advantage of their loved ones’ financial accounts. Any time someone takes on the role as a power of attorney, they have to do what is in the best interest of the person to include all financial transactions. Any personal and unauthorized transactions can subject that person to legal ramifications.”

So what is elder financial abuse? People tend to think of phone swindlers and con artists who call old folks and trick them into giving up their Social Security numbers, but those kinds of scams are relatively rare. Jenny Hicks, coordinator of Vera House’s Abuse Later in Life program, said it’s much more common to see seniors exploited by someone they know.

“Really it tends to be family members who are involved in it,” Hicks said. “Very often it tends to be in a caregiver type role.”

And, Hicks said, financial abuse often happens in conjunction with other forms of abuse.

“In my perspective, elder financial exploitation is part of the whole issue of elder abuse,” she said. “It typically does not happen in a vacuum.”

Hicks said abuse of individuals age of 60 and over accounts for 14.1 percent of all reported abuse, though the study didn’t account for dementia, which would cause that number to skyrocket. Financial abuse is the most widely reported. Financial exploitation encompasses a range of activities, from simple theft, whether of money or possessions, to changing a power of attorney to shifting money out of bank accounts.

“This is a very difficult issue for us to have a really good grasp on, because so often, the victims don’t realize that they actually are victims,” said Kristen McManus, a legislative analyst at AARP. “There’s various estimates out there that say for every case that is reported, there are approximately 23 that go undetected.”

The most vulnerable seniors are the most at risk.

“It tends to have to do with vulnerability,” Hicks said. “Any form of physical or mental impairment where the person now has to be reliant on someone else. Very often it will be part of a caregiving role, and somebody is coming in to help out Mom or help out Dad, and it’s easy to start stealing from them… for individuals aged 80 and over, they’re abused three times more often because of that vulnerability.”

Meanwhile, those most likely to commit elder financial abuse share some common traits, as well. In addition to knowing the victim—Hicks said about 90 percent of the time, the perpetrator is a family member, and about half of that number is a child of the victim—there may be a history of domestic violence. There’s also a financial element.

“There’s some sort of a reliance on that older adult for their money, whether they’re living with them and they don’t have another job or there’s a substance abuse issue or a gambling issue or some other need for those funds,” Hicks said. “That would be a red flag.”

Other red flags include increasing isolation, behavior changes, their interactions with the suspected abuser, injuries that don’t make sense and, of course, financial issues—money problems, going out with friends less, new credit cards or large gifts to the suspected abuser.

This is where legislation like Valesky’s comes in.

“Banks are really kind of the front line for this kind of exploitation of older adults,” McManus said. “So we think that these bills that allow them to take action to help prevent this are a really good first step in combating the problem.”

Right now, if a bank employee suspects financial abuse, their only recourse is to report it to law enforcement or Adult Protective Services; about 21 percent of all reports come from financial institutions, according to McManus.

But Valesky’s bill would give them more power to stop the crimes before they happen, saving the state the $1.5 billion a year it costs to investigate and prosecute these cases — not to mention the even higher cost to the victims.

“When we think of especially our much more vulnerable older adults, they’ve spent their entire lives building up their nest egg so that they can have a secure retirement, and they have these funds completely taken from them without really any way for them to continue to build up that nest egg,” McManus said. “This is really taking people and taking everything that they have. They’re on limited incomes already, and if you take that away, they can be left with nothing.”

Sheriff’s department offers tips on spotting scams

While Sen. David Valesky’s legislation is meant to protect seniors from abuse by those close to them, Sgt. Jon Seeber of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office noted that older people are also vulnerable to scams and identity theft. He offered the following tips to seniors to keep safe:

Identity theft

• • Never mail checks from your home if you have a mailbox without a lock. Crooks often go through unsecured mailboxes to find checks that will provide them with your name, address and bank account number.
• • Keep items with personal information on them in a safe place. Roommates, employees, service technicians and even family members
  can steal personal information, bank account and credit card numbers.
• • Do not carry your social security card unless you need it. Also never put your social security number or driver’s license number on your checks.
• • Invest in a shredder and shred all mail and personal documents before putting into the trash.
• • Reduce the number of credit cards you actively use to a bare minimum. Carry only one or two credit cards in your wallet. Cancel all unused credit card accounts. Even though you do not use these accounts, account numbers are recorded in your credit report along with other data that can be used by identity thieves.

Scams

Be aware of the following possible scams:

• • Home repairs: Paying up front for home repairs that don’t happen or are not completed. Never hire anyone for home repairs that solicit you at your home or on the phone.
• • Utility inspector: A fraudster claiming to be a utility inspector accuses you of breaking utility regulations and offers to fix it for a cost.
• • Fake charities: Solicitations from people pretending to be a charity, real or otherwise. Make your own contacts to donate.
• • Bank scams: Being asked to withdraw money to help with a fictitious undercover investigation.
• • Prize and vacation offers: Being asked for your credit card number to process or ship a fictitious prize or vacation package.
• • Lottery schemes: You are asked to pay fees for a fictitious lottery winning or inheritance.
• • Medical fraud and miracle cures: Being sold quick fixes that may not be medically
  sound.