help prevent elder financial abuse

June 13, 2025

Elder financial abuse is a growing problem in our country. Sometimes it is committed by people the victim knows, like a family member or a caregiver. Other times, strangers are running scams to steal money from the elderly. It is estimated that elderly Americans lose more than $36.5 billion collectively each year from elder financial abuse.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15, and it’s a good time to talk about how we can help protect older adults from being taken advantage of. Here are some tips:

protect financial assets

Do as much banking online as possible. If you are not comfortable with online banking, have a trusted family member help you. Online banking gives account holders the ability to review their accounts 24/7 and set up alerts to monitor suspicious activity. Also, add a trusted contact to financial accounts. This person would not have access to the account. They would simply be a point of contact if the account holder cannot be reached.

monitor credit

This is something people of all ages should do to ensure their identity has not been stolen and accounts have not been opened by someone else in their name. When that happens, criminals may apply for loans in your name with no intention of paying them back. That negatively impacts your credit. You can request free credit reports from each of the three credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion—at annualcreditreport.com.

block unwanted calls and texts

If you don’t know how to do this, check with your phone company to learn how you can block robocalls and texts. You should also add all of your phone numbers to the FTC’s Do Not Call Registry. Doing this won’t stop scammers completely, but it will cut down on unwanted calls and texts, even for legitimate telemarketers you don’t want to hear from.

do not deal in large cash transactions with strangers

A common scam is to convince elderly Americans their bank or credit union is trying to steal from them. These scammers encourage people to withdraw large amounts of cash at one time and hand it over to the scammer to deposit into a different account to which they have access. Financial institutions are highly regulated by the government and will not steal from you.

Please follow these tips to help yourself and/or your loved ones avoid these crimes that often drain the elderly of their life savings. If you suspect you or someone you know is the victim of elder financial abuse, you can report that to the following agencies:

Your local Adult Protective Services (APS)

Local Law Enforcement

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Look for more information about scams and other important information on our blog.