DON’T LET YOUR ELDERS GET FLEECED!

It is not found in just this column, or the Washington Post and New York Times, but also in the Los Angeles Times. The top, number one subject in estate planning today is to disperse as much information necessary to alert all baby boomers and senior citizens of their vulnerability to financial fraud. Elder abuse from financial fraud is running amuck, and is difficult to detect if you are unaware of the signs.

The problem, or at least the biggest problem, is that the persons perpetrating the fraud are those that most people believe would be the last person to do it. It is that long, or so you thought, trusted friend that always came two or three times a week for tea. Or that sweet niece that always came over and washed that old neighbor’s towels, or his daughter who came from Arizona just to help him out.

Worse, it could be that care-giver paid by Medi-Cal who is suppose to do a job, only to show up with larceny in their heart once they understand how alone and alienated some older individuals can be made from the rest of society.

According to the Los Angeles Times, crediting a newly released survey, one senior in five has been taken in some form of financial con. It is exactly that one in five (20 percent chance) whom the con men and women are looking for to take advantage. If you say, “I’m looking for a ‘reverse mortgage’ on my house,” and they answer, “I have something better for you than a reverse mortgage!” -- followed by a pitch that is an incomprehensible financial alternative and all you understand is the bottom line, which of course sounds too good to be true and you believe it, then you are in trouble. The elder citizen that enjoyed talking with the polite man’s voice might think it must be their lucky day, when in fact it is the other way around.

Even people in their fifties do not realize how much money a seventy year old senior has stashed away as a result of frugal living and conservative investments. Not everyone is a crook, but the crooks are looking for these small fortunes saved by a man who sometimes has a day of dementia, or the elderly woman who was not thinking clearly only because she had started a new medication routine.

All this led to some security regulators working for the Texas Securities Commissioner to discover that a disproportionate number of elderly fraud victims were suffering from some level of dementia. This led them to wonder if there were any red flags that may be seen on these vulnerable elders that could be identified before they got fleeced.

They joined forces with Dr. Robert Roush of Baylor College of Medicine and formed a coalition of financial and medical professionals to find a way to remedy the situation. The coalition is called the “Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation Project.”

Because a financial fleecing causes stress which causes further ailments from their financial woes, Baylor College of Medicine came up with a set of questions doctors could ask to determine if their elderly patients were suffering from “mild cognitive impairment.” It centers on the fact that approximately 33.3 percent of those over 70 become confused when dealing with numbers. The warning signs for seniors are:

• Confused over paying bills;
• A lack of confidence over making financial decisions alone;
• Confusion over others making their financial decisions;
• Making gifts they cannot afford;
• Assertions that someone is stealing money from them without any proof.

Of all these signs it is the assertion of money disappearing that seems to cause the most stress. They may get mixed up over numbers, but the thought that someone has accessed their account and money is disappearing is loathsome. They can’t eat or sleep or talk about anything else.

Once the doctors find the signs of mild cognitive impairment these tips lead to investigations and one financial planner got 99 years in prison. But the most successful way to prevent fraud on your relatives is to stay vigilant even if the care-giver doesn’t ask for it. In fact, particularly if the care-giver doesn’t ask for it.