June 15th is Elder Abuse Awareness Day!
Although elder abuse was first recognized in the 1970s as a problem in the United States, it is disappointing to see that it is still not a well-know public health issue, especially considering the magnitude of the problem. According to this report prepared for Congress, during 1996 there were 500,000 incidents of elder abuse in the United States. However, this same report asserts that elder abuse claims were vastly underreported, with only 16% of the incidents being reported to law enforcement agencies during the same time period. According to one AARP advisor "people over age 60 make up only one-eighth of the U.S. population, yet they constitute one of every three scam victims."
In an effort to revise this worldwide attitude, in 2006 the United Nations declared June 15th to be World Elder Abuse Awareness day. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse has suggested wearing purple as a sign of support to prevent the problem of elder abuse. In Los Angeles, celebrities including Ed Asner, Art Linkletter, Michael Reagan, Los Angeles Police Department Police Chief William Bratton, have contributed to the film Saving our Parents which was released in April 2008.
Elder abuse is generally considered to include any knowing intentional or negligent act that results in harm to a vulnerable adult. Such harm can include but is not limited to emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, neglect or abandonment. Elder abuse is frequently attributed to care givers but in my estimation it is often more common within families. I have encountered numerous situations where family members attempt to misappropriate a senior’s assets for their own benefit in disregard for the senior who is no longer able to raise an adequate defense.
Another commonly recognized form of elder abuse is known as self-abuse. The typical self-abuse situation involves a senior who is no longer capable of managing his or her daily needs and, without involved family or support, the senior tolerates living in dangerous conditions. In the course of my practice, I have encountered numerous elderly individuals living in squalor simply because they were no longer able to understand their conditions or manage their affairs. Sometimes the senior’s deficiencies are physical (failing eyesight, lack of mobility), sometimes the limitations are mental (dementia, Alzheimer’s disease) and sometimes the deficiencies causing self-neglect are manifold.
So what can you do to help prevent elder abuse? I am a big fan of old fashion values: stay close to your loved ones, friends or neighbors who may vulnerable. It is always a good idea to be wary of any new person or organization who becomes involved in an elder’s life. Ask questions and speak up if you have concerns. If the concerns appear serious, call your local law enforcement agency. In Los Angeles County, we are also lucky enough to have a 24 hour Elder Abuse Hotline, (telephone (877) 4-R-SENIORS), which allows you to make confidential reports of suspected elder abuse. If the situation is not resolved to your satisfaction, it may also be useful to consider legal assistance including possibly a conservatorship for the senior in need.
In an effort to revise this worldwide attitude, in 2006 the United Nations declared June 15th to be World Elder Abuse Awareness day. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse has suggested wearing purple as a sign of support to prevent the problem of elder abuse. In Los Angeles, celebrities including Ed Asner, Art Linkletter, Michael Reagan, Los Angeles Police Department Police Chief William Bratton, have contributed to the film Saving our Parents which was released in April 2008.
Elder abuse is generally considered to include any knowing intentional or negligent act that results in harm to a vulnerable adult. Such harm can include but is not limited to emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, neglect or abandonment. Elder abuse is frequently attributed to care givers but in my estimation it is often more common within families. I have encountered numerous situations where family members attempt to misappropriate a senior’s assets for their own benefit in disregard for the senior who is no longer able to raise an adequate defense.
Another commonly recognized form of elder abuse is known as self-abuse. The typical self-abuse situation involves a senior who is no longer capable of managing his or her daily needs and, without involved family or support, the senior tolerates living in dangerous conditions. In the course of my practice, I have encountered numerous elderly individuals living in squalor simply because they were no longer able to understand their conditions or manage their affairs. Sometimes the senior’s deficiencies are physical (failing eyesight, lack of mobility), sometimes the limitations are mental (dementia, Alzheimer’s disease) and sometimes the deficiencies causing self-neglect are manifold.
So what can you do to help prevent elder abuse? I am a big fan of old fashion values: stay close to your loved ones, friends or neighbors who may vulnerable. It is always a good idea to be wary of any new person or organization who becomes involved in an elder’s life. Ask questions and speak up if you have concerns. If the concerns appear serious, call your local law enforcement agency. In Los Angeles County, we are also lucky enough to have a 24 hour Elder Abuse Hotline, (telephone (877) 4-R-SENIORS), which allows you to make confidential reports of suspected elder abuse. If the situation is not resolved to your satisfaction, it may also be useful to consider legal assistance including possibly a conservatorship for the senior in need.
The LifeLock Controversy: Is There No Protection Against Identity Theft?
While elder abuse can take many forms, one method of elder abuse is identity theft. A common form of identity theft is where someone obtains your private confidential information and then uses it to obtain credit accounts. This pernicious problem was humorously illustrated in a series of television commercials from Citibank, including this one. Unfortunately, the problem of identity theft has become so prevalent that according to this article, a National Public Radio station in Madison, Wisconsin recently stopped using volunteers during its call-in pledge drive because the station can no longer obtain insurance coverage if one its volunteers were to misappropriate a contributor's credit card information.
A number of private organizations, including Citibank, have tried to remedy the identify theft problem but perhaps none with more confidence than LifeLock. In a series of nationally broadcast advertisements, LifeLock CEO Todd Davis brazenly broadcasted his name and social security number and dared anyone to steal his identity. According to this article, least 87 attempts have been made to misappropriate Mr. Davis’ identity and recently, one conniving person succeeded by convincing a pay-day lender to advance $500 based on Mr. Davis’ personal identification information. Now, customers in several states are suing claiming that LifeLock’s services don’t perform as advertised.
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A number of private organizations, including Citibank, have tried to remedy the identify theft problem but perhaps none with more confidence than LifeLock. In a series of nationally broadcast advertisements, LifeLock CEO Todd Davis brazenly broadcasted his name and social security number and dared anyone to steal his identity. According to this article, least 87 attempts have been made to misappropriate Mr. Davis’ identity and recently, one conniving person succeeded by convincing a pay-day lender to advance $500 based on Mr. Davis’ personal identification information. Now, customers in several states are suing claiming that LifeLock’s services don’t perform as advertised.
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The Latest Fairy Tale: the Return of the Land Grant
With the ever worsening foreclosure crisis in California, confidence artists have invoked an age-old government program—the land grant—to swindle victims out of their homes. In this article, the Los Angeles Times reported that California and federal authorities recently shut down a San Diego-based company that was allegedly convincing homeowners to pay thousands of dollars to obtain foreclosure protection via the use of a land grant. Allegedly, the victims were told that by transferring their land to the federal government it would be protected from foreclosure and would later be returned to them free and clear. Thus by using the land grant program, they could stave off the foreclosure and wipe out hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
If only life were so easy.
The strange thing about this latest confidence scheme is that it essentially advocates the use of a reverse land grant. Historically, a land grant is a program used by governments to reward service and encourage development in remote territories. In the United States, the government started using land grants after the American Revolutionary War to reward veterans for their service. Later, the United States used land grants to encourage the development of the transcontinental railroads. By congressional acts of 1862 and 1890, the federal government also made land grants to states to establish colleges and universities. Many well-know universities such as Rutgers University (which is the oldest land grant university) and Michigan State University (which claims to be the pioneer land grant university) were established through the land grant program.
It is hard to imagine how a land grant program would be applicable to saving an overextended homeowner from foreclosure. While the congress is debating various legislative remedies to the foreclosure crisis, none has involved the concept of the government taking back an owner’s property through a reverse land grant. As California Attorney General Jerry Brown indicated, “there hasn’t been a legitimate use of the land grant since the conclusion of the Mexican-American War”. Nevertheless, the organization was able to convince hundreds of homeowners to participate and pay fees as high as $10,000 for the privilege. As this article illustrates, seniors are often especially vulnerable to foreclosure abuse.
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If only life were so easy.
The strange thing about this latest confidence scheme is that it essentially advocates the use of a reverse land grant. Historically, a land grant is a program used by governments to reward service and encourage development in remote territories. In the United States, the government started using land grants after the American Revolutionary War to reward veterans for their service. Later, the United States used land grants to encourage the development of the transcontinental railroads. By congressional acts of 1862 and 1890, the federal government also made land grants to states to establish colleges and universities. Many well-know universities such as Rutgers University (which is the oldest land grant university) and Michigan State University (which claims to be the pioneer land grant university) were established through the land grant program.
It is hard to imagine how a land grant program would be applicable to saving an overextended homeowner from foreclosure. While the congress is debating various legislative remedies to the foreclosure crisis, none has involved the concept of the government taking back an owner’s property through a reverse land grant. As California Attorney General Jerry Brown indicated, “there hasn’t been a legitimate use of the land grant since the conclusion of the Mexican-American War”. Nevertheless, the organization was able to convince hundreds of homeowners to participate and pay fees as high as $10,000 for the privilege. As this article illustrates, seniors are often especially vulnerable to foreclosure abuse.
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Creative Scams Against Seniors Continue to Flourish
Were you recently notified that you were the winner of the Canadian lottery? Or perhaps you received a secret communiqué from a former official of the Nigerian government asking for your assistance discretely moving money out of his country. Were you surprised by your luck? As discussed in a recent Los Angeles Times article, perhaps you have become a victim of bad luck.
These scams are some of the latest variants of a confidence game commonly known as the Spanish Prisoner scam, in which the victim is informed that a very wealthy individual was wrongly imprisoned under a false name in a Spanish prison. The victim is told that if he or she were willing to help the prisoner in his greatest time of need, the victim will be richly rewarded after the prisoner is released. Revealing the name of the wealthy prisoner will most likely result in potentially catastrophic consequences, however, and so the victim is forced to rely on his agent—the confidence artist. The victim then pays the con artist money which is supposed to be used to free the prisoner but instead only helps the con artist.
The recent Los Angeles Times article also included the latest variants of the age-old confidence game, including one scam where potential victims are notified that they are named beneficiaries under the last will and testament of the famed Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. While such a claim may sound ludicrous to many people, the writers were able to find one individual who considered the pitch legitimate; a struggling tenor and had previously met Mr. Pavarotti at a musical event. For a mere $800 transfer fee, the victim could receive his bequest under Mr. Pavarotti’s will.
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These scams are some of the latest variants of a confidence game commonly known as the Spanish Prisoner scam, in which the victim is informed that a very wealthy individual was wrongly imprisoned under a false name in a Spanish prison. The victim is told that if he or she were willing to help the prisoner in his greatest time of need, the victim will be richly rewarded after the prisoner is released. Revealing the name of the wealthy prisoner will most likely result in potentially catastrophic consequences, however, and so the victim is forced to rely on his agent—the confidence artist. The victim then pays the con artist money which is supposed to be used to free the prisoner but instead only helps the con artist.
The recent Los Angeles Times article also included the latest variants of the age-old confidence game, including one scam where potential victims are notified that they are named beneficiaries under the last will and testament of the famed Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. While such a claim may sound ludicrous to many people, the writers were able to find one individual who considered the pitch legitimate; a struggling tenor and had previously met Mr. Pavarotti at a musical event. For a mere $800 transfer fee, the victim could receive his bequest under Mr. Pavarotti’s will.
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New Legislation Seeks to Protect Elders from Pseudo Professional Designations
One challenge facing most consumers is finding trustworthy professionals to help manage their retirement finances. In the last few years, dozens of professional designations have been created, some of which purport to offer special expertise designed specifically for seniors. As described in a recent article, often these new designations are nothing more than a marketing device intended to give seniors a false sense of security.
One such example was the designation “Certified Elder Planning Specialist, a designation that was awarded after completing approximately 100 hours through a self-study course provided by the Institute of Elder Planning. In September 2002, the Massachusetts Securities Division filed a complaint against the Institute’s founder alleging, among other things, that the respondents created “specious titles such as ‘Certified Elder Planning Specialists’ to mislead the elderly and disguise the fact that the associates were insurance salesman.” According to Massachusetts securities officials, the organization has closed its doors and the designation is not long in use. Unfortunately, these kind of deceptive practices negatively impact the entire investment advisory industry.
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One such example was the designation “Certified Elder Planning Specialist, a designation that was awarded after completing approximately 100 hours through a self-study course provided by the Institute of Elder Planning. In September 2002, the Massachusetts Securities Division filed a complaint against the Institute’s founder alleging, among other things, that the respondents created “specious titles such as ‘Certified Elder Planning Specialists’ to mislead the elderly and disguise the fact that the associates were insurance salesman.” According to Massachusetts securities officials, the organization has closed its doors and the designation is not long in use. Unfortunately, these kind of deceptive practices negatively impact the entire investment advisory industry.
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Financial Elder Abuse Occurs Even in Famous Families.
A recent story illustrates that financial elder abuse impacts a wide spectrum of the population and frequently occurs even within the best families. According to this article, Chase Caro has admitted that he stole $310,000 from his grandparents. Chase Caro ended up liquidating three CD’s without their permission, set up a joint trust fund in his name and theirs, and then began to withdraw money for his personal use. Chase Caro is the son of one of my favorite authors, Pulitzer-prize winning biographer Robert Caro.
Chase Caro pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny and has been sentenced to 2.5 - 7.5 years in prison. Chase Caro had previously pleaded guilty to stealing $470,000 from another client, who was also elderly (and trusting). Caro has agreed to pay restitution of 1.1 million dollars which also includes funds from a third theft. An attorney, Chase Caro was also recently disbarred.
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Chase Caro pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny and has been sentenced to 2.5 - 7.5 years in prison. Chase Caro had previously pleaded guilty to stealing $470,000 from another client, who was also elderly (and trusting). Caro has agreed to pay restitution of 1.1 million dollars which also includes funds from a third theft. An attorney, Chase Caro was also recently disbarred.
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