FINANCIAL ELDER ABUSE IS ON THE RISE

Financial elder abuse — broadly defined as the illegal or improper use of the funds, property, or assets of people 60 and older by family, friends, neighbors, and strangers — is rising fast. Estimates of the crime’s frequency vary. A 2010 survey of seniors by the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust projected that 1 in 5 seniors had been taken advantage of financially. A study last year in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that 4.7 percent of Americans — about 1 in 20 — reported that they had been financially exploited in their later years. The study provided perspective: If a new disease struck that same percentage of older Americans, researchers wrote, “a public health crisis would likely be declared.” The Federal Trade Commission says that fraud complaints to its offices by individuals 60 and older rose at least 47 percent between 2012 and 2014. Seniors are the predominant victims of impostor schemes, in which criminals pose as government officials or other authority figures and claim that money is owed. We also are hit hard by gambits involving prizes, sweepstakes, and gifts. Older people’s vulnerabilities — including isolation, loneliness, generally trusting natures, relative wealth, and in some cases declining mental capabilities — make us ideal quarry for con artists. Even older people whose cognition is intact can be swayed if they’re stressed or depressed, or recently have lost a loved one. The amount lost to swindlers, whether they are strangers or even relatives, is huge, with estimates ranging from almost $3 billion to more than $30 billion annually. And as baby boomers age, the pool of potential victims will expand, with assets ripe for the pickpocketing.