Financial Exploitation of the Elderly
Criminals target older adults for financial exploitation for a variety of reasons. Criminals find seniors susceptible to these crimes of deception because they believe that the older population has higher cash reserves and are less likely to check their credit reports or financial account statements carefully. This may be due to the fact that they are usually in a financially stable position and are not opening new lines of credit. This gives the thief the opportunity to steal a senior’s identity or money with a reduced probability of detection. Some other reasons seniors are targeted is because the thieves assume they are less aware of the crime of identity theft and various scam scenarios.
In addition, older adults living in residential facilities - or under the care of someone - are at risk because the caretakers have access to the senior’s personal records. This creates a situation which allows unscrupulous individuals to exploit those in their care.
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