Wise Seniors :: Elder Abuse Prevention

Fighting Financial Fraud and Abuse

Elder Abuse Is a Serious Problem. Hundreds of thousands of older persons are abused, neglected and exploited by family members and others. Many victims are people who are older, frail, and vulnerable and cannot help themselves and must depend on others to meet their most basic needs. Legislatures in all 50 states have passed some form of elder abuse prevention laws. Each year an estimated 2.1 million older Americans are victims of elder abuse and neglect by someone they depend on for care or protection. Conservative estimates claim that only one in 14 cases of elder abuse and neglect are reported to the proper authorities.

The Telemarketing Victim Call Center is an innovative program that represents a partnership with senior RSVP volunteers, law enforcement, AARP and WISE Senior Services. Each week, volunteers gather to contact known victims of telemarketing fraud, to present a message about prevention, to educate victims about the signs of illegal telemarketing fraud, and to gather information for law enforcement. In six years of operation, the Call Center has provided outreach messages to over 125,000 elderly victims. For more information, email rsvp@wiseseniors.org.

Seniors Against Investment Fraud (SAIF); sponsored and funded by the California Department of Corporations, educates seniors throughout California in the prevention of investment fraud. To date, WISE has trained nearly 1000 volunteers, who then will communicate these messages to other seniors through local seminars. As part of our efforts to increase awareness of investment fraud, the volunteers are taught to educate the public on core concepts that include:

Consider and compare investment opportunities.

Consult with an outside party before making and investment.

Call a toll free number at the California Department of Corporations to make sure that you are dealing with a licensed dealer or broker and that the offering is legitimate.

Just one indication of the success of these volunteers: in the last year, the number of calls to the toll free number has increased from an average of 150 a month to around 5,000 per month. For more information, email saif@wiseseniors.org.

Senior Action Fairs — WISE conducts community-based events annually to promote public awareness about elder abuse. The fairs provide seniors with the knowledge and skills they can use to protect themselves from becoming a victim of these crimes and to maintain their quality of life. Seminars and workshops are held in which WISE experts instruct seniors how to avoid identify theft, telemarketing and investment scams, home repair rip-offs, sweepstakes and mail fraud, and real estate fraud. For a schedule of upcoming events, please go to Senior Action Fairs.