Elder Abuse: Protecting a Vulnerable Population from Fraud and Theft

With an aging population worldwide, soaring health care costs and people outliving their financial foundations, fraudsters increasingly are taking advantage of the elderly and aging. Many are defrauded in their own homes. (An aunt of one of this column's editors swindled his late grandmother.) This serious and emotionally devastating issue soon could reach crisis proportion if relatives and friends of elders aren't aware of how to prevent abuse. Samantha Dillhoff, a student at North Seattle Community College (NSCC), writes about the problem and areas to which we should pay attention. (Dillhoff submitted this column as a paper to an NSCC fraud accounting course taught by Lauren Psomostithis, CFE.)