Ester T. is an elderly woman who
owned two pieces of property in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles County,
Calif. Ester lived in one of the homes next door to her sister, also a homeowner.
Soon after Ester's sister died, a "gentleman befriended her."
Ester learned from the man that her sister had an outstanding mortgage of
$90,000, a complete lie.
The man persuaded Ester to sell her sister's property for $30,000, which was significantly below market value, to pay off the debt. To cover the remaining debt, Ester was told she had to sell her second house, the one she was not living in, for $60,000, also significantly below market value. After selling two houses, Ester was told that she still owed more money. In order to pay it off, she would have to take a mortgage out on the house she lived in, now the only property she owned. Unable to pay the mortgage, Ester was in jeopardy of being evicted.
After three years of abuse and court proceedings, the man is serving time in jail and Ester has received a large settlement. Unfortunately, most victims of financial elder abuse never see their money again.
All seniors across the country are potential victims of financial elder abuse. However, the American Association of Retired Persons reports that the older people most preyed upon by dishonest telemarketing companies, surprisingly, are well educated, with above-average incomes, and are socially active in their communities. Therefore, the sales pitches these companies use are appropriately sophisticated. They include phony prizes; illegal sweepstakes; sham investments; crooked charities, and "recovery rooms" where victims are scammed again by telemarketers with promises that, for a fee, they will help them recover the money they have lost.
Unfortunately, telemarketing fraud is not the only type of financial abuse to which hundreds of thousands of elderly are victims. Medicare fraud, home lien scams, and real estate and insurance fraud are also costing America and its older populations more than $40 billion each year.
"All too often people find that as they get older they also may become targets of abuse or neglect, sometimes from the very people on whom they must depend for care," says Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Los Angeles County supervisor.
"Elder abuse is a subject of growing concern to the more than one million senior citizens of Los Angeles County. We are concerned not only with physical and psychological abuse - which is bad enough - but also with financial abuse and money scams, which can be deadly," Burke saidon her monthly cable show in March, when she dedicated it to the issue of elder abuse. "It's time for us to start doing something about it," she said.
Los Angeles County is responding to the increases in elder fraud head on.
In 1996, the Los Angeles County Adult Protective Services received nearly 3,000 referrals for elder abuse. Of those cases, approximately half were confirmed. Over the past few years, the percentage of those referrals that are related to seniors' finances or property has increased dramatically.
"Rather than sitting back and waiting for a referral, let's take a proactive approach and let them know what's going on," says Pam Smith, Los Angeles County Adult Protective Services. "Seniors need to be vigilant about looking out for abuse not only on their own behalf, but also for the safety of their family, friends and neighbors."
On May 5, as part of the county's Older Americans Month celebration, Supervisor Burke launched a series of 15 county-wide forums. The forums are being presented by the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging (AAA), a county-based aging services provider, in partnership with the county's sheriff's department and Department of Consumer Affairs, the State of California Department of Insurance, and the Legal Corps of Los Angeles.
This collaboration has been a key to the success of the public awareness campaign on this important issue. The agencies, through their commitment and ongoing support, have contributed greatly to raising the elderly's awareness of financial scams and fraud.
Area seniors are invited to one of the 15 county-wide forums to hear from the experts about the scams and frauds being targeted at senior citizens, including Medicare fraud, home lien scams, telemarketing real estate fraud and insurance fraud.
Participants also learn what they can do to reduce their risk of victimization and where to go for help if they or someone they know is a victim of elder abuse.
After the presentations, participants can ask questions and speak with the presenters and each other. Seniors who need to discuss individual concerns confidentially may select a panelist who will personally follow up with them.
County officials believe that the county-wide forums are a step in the right direction. According to Smith, local leaders view these 15 information exchanges as an education process for the community and a mechanism to prevent abuses and frauds.
"If the information is out on the street, then maybe older persons will be able to catch fraud and abuse earlier," says Smith. The forums are also a public relations tool to let people know the county is addressing these issues and what resources and services are available to assist older victims.
In addition to hearing presentations and participating in the dialogue, seniors are asked to complete a short needs assessment that is used to identify other challenges area seniors are facing. These challenges may include transportation, immigration and naturalization, health, medical insurance, safety, nutrition, employment, housing or financial aid.
If contact information is provided on the returned questionnaires, county officials will follow up to link older persons with available services. In addition to connecting the older population to local government services, the information is also used to determine the need for specific programs, existing gaps in services and other issues.
(For additional information about the Los Angeles County forums, contact Pam Smith at 213/738-2628. For more information about federal, state and local efforts to protect older Americans from elder abuse, contact Kelly Schulman at 202/942-4246.)