Financial fraud against elders - Who does it?
I will say upfront that this was not a personal issue for me. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I have ended up with no money or real estate to steal.
I read an article about financial fraud against seniors, and thought I’d share these statistics, in case you don’t have enough to worry about.
1
Romance scammers defraud elders of $547 million in 2022
2
Grandparent scams affected 10,000 elders in 2022 per FBI
3
Unauthorized withdrawals from bank accounts in 25% of cases
4
Elder financial abuse leads to 12% poverty rate increase among victims
5
Victims lose average $9,719 per incident per FTC 2022 data
6
1 in 5 victims require nursing home placement post-abuse
7
Family members commit 52% of financial abuse against elders, per DOJ 2017 report
8
Adult children are perpetrators in 34% of cases, per NCEA data
9
20% of perpetrators are professional caregivers
10
In 2022, adults over 60 reported losing $3.4 billion to fraud, marking the highest losses among age groups
11
A 2020 study found that 1 in 10 older Americans experiences elder financial abuse annually
12
The National Adult Protective Services reported over 1 million elder abuse cases in 2021, with financial exploitation comprising 11%
13
Females comprise 58% of elder financial abuse victims nationwide, per 2021 NCEA data
14
Adults aged 80+ are 3 times more likely to be financial abuse victims than 60-69
15
Low-income elders (<$25k/year) report financial abuse at twice the rate of higher earners
I read an article about financial fraud against seniors, and thought I’d share these statistics, in case you don’t have enough to worry about.
1
Romance scammers defraud elders of $547 million in 2022
2
Grandparent scams affected 10,000 elders in 2022 per FBI
3
Unauthorized withdrawals from bank accounts in 25% of cases
4
Elder financial abuse leads to 12% poverty rate increase among victims
5
Victims lose average $9,719 per incident per FTC 2022 data
6
1 in 5 victims require nursing home placement post-abuse
7
Family members commit 52% of financial abuse against elders, per DOJ 2017 report
8
Adult children are perpetrators in 34% of cases, per NCEA data
9
20% of perpetrators are professional caregivers
10
In 2022, adults over 60 reported losing $3.4 billion to fraud, marking the highest losses among age groups
11
A 2020 study found that 1 in 10 older Americans experiences elder financial abuse annually
12
The National Adult Protective Services reported over 1 million elder abuse cases in 2021, with financial exploitation comprising 11%
13
Females comprise 58% of elder financial abuse victims nationwide, per 2021 NCEA data
14
Adults aged 80+ are 3 times more likely to be financial abuse victims than 60-69
15
Low-income elders (<$25k/year) report financial abuse at twice the rate of higher earners
