By Steven Mattingly
We all hear about and read about fraud committed against
seniors and it’s exactly that, something that we hear and read about. Most of us pay little heed to the discussion
most of the time. Even though I work with seniors each and every day like most
of us I tuned out the various commercials and internet pop ups thinking them
little more that auditory and visual pollution.
I have changed my
nonchalant attitude rather quickly in the past couple of weeks when our
community was called upon to assist one of our own residents fight an ongoing
case of identity theft and financial fraud.
A former business acquaintance of the resident had gathered enough information
ranging from bank statements that were altered to included additional names,
copies of a state issued ID, and other personal information. This individual was using the information to
represent herself as the caretaker of the resident and was attempting to lease
an expensive home in the bay area in the resident’s name.
The good news is
that an alert property manager for the potential rental property sensed
something out of the ordinary and reached out to our community for help. Because of privacy laws we do not respond to
questions asking if a resident or staff member is part of the community. Our standard response is that we cannot
confirm or deny that information.
Fortunately in this situation the property manager was persistent and a
manager on staff made the appropriate decision to cooperate once she learned a
bit more about the nature of the inquiry.
With cooperation from our community, the resident affected, and the
property manager, the police with jurisdiction over the case set up a “sting”
operation to apprehend the individual.
It was somewhat surreal. It was
like being involved in a scene from “Law and Order”. The good news is that the sting worked, the
individual attempting the fraud was apprehended and will be prosecuted. The bad news is that our resident has to do
the leg work to restore her good credit status with the various with the credit
bureaus, no small feat, but she is determined to put things right.
There are numerous
sources where you can get information about how to prevent senior financial
fraud. Most of it is simply good common
sense. Here are some suggestions you
might want to consider:
· Identity thieves love aging parents because they
think they are so vulnerable. Social isolation, loss of a spouse, early
dementia, general memory loss or confusion set up our elders and aging parents
an easy mark. Add to that, seniors tend to be friendly and trusting, and you
have a combination that can make your aging parent a sitting duck.
· How can we help them protect themselves? We need to educate our aging parents that
trusting strangers on the phone is very dangerous. We need to warn our aging
parents that even their own children can rip them off if they are desperate.
Drug and alcohol abuse, serious financial trouble and mental illness can lead
an adult child to steal account numbers when visiting and later raid his own
parents' bank account and steal from the ones most likely to trust him or
her. Can we thwart the attempts at
stealing our aging parents' identities? We can at least take protective measures.
Some of the simplest protections are the best.
· First, buy a cross-cut shredder. Shred or have
your aging parents shred sensitive mail, credit card solicitations, and
outdated personal documents such as bank statements, rather than throwing them
in the trash. Thieves go through the trash looking for anything they can use to
steal.
· Guard credit cards. Watch sales people, staff in
restaurants, and anyone who asks for your credit card. Thieves use tiny
scanning devices called skimmers to steal the numbers and then use the cards.
Get rid of any rarely used or unused cards. The fewer your parent has, the
better.
· Mail letters at a mail box or the post office,
rather than leaving outgoing mail in the mail box in front of the home. Thieves
steal checks and payments slips, taking the information and using it to attempt
to steal the entire identity. They take out new credit cards in the victim's
name and rob them of everything they can.
· One should never, ever give out personal
information or financial account information over the telephone. Telephone
solicitors offer prizes and rewards to trick the person into telling the
solicitor his bank account number, social security number, and mother's maiden
name. With that, the thief can wipe out a bank account in minutes.
· Don't let anyone copy your aging parents'
driver's license. Anyone doing this can get access to bank accounts, personal
data, and anything else you would want to protect. Getting the license number
to verify a check is one thing. Letting someone take the entire license and
have the other information on it is rarely necessary.
Senior identity
theft and fraud are crimes perpetrated by individuals who see seniors as easy
prey. It is estimated that 1 in 7
seniors at some point is a victim of fraud.
You’ve been warned!
As a footnote to
this recent incident, the resident involved has just gotten her fourth “check”
from the Nigerian Lottery, all she needs to do to cash the check is call a
listed number. Our wise and cautious
resident has given this information to the police.
Contributing author Steven Mattingly is the Executive Director of Pacifica Senior Living in San Leandro, CA.