Program Description WISE seeks to prevent the victimization of older adults and to protect vulnerable seniors from becoming victims of financial, physical or emotional abuse. The rate of crimes of financial abuse against the elderly in particular is rapidly growing. Many of these crimes are unreported as senior victims often lack knowledge about how to seek protection form their abusers or are fearful of reporting the crime due to their dependency upon the abuser for care. The WISE Elder Abuse Prevention Program provides 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. Senior Fairs are held throughout the City and County of Los Angeles 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. In addition, WISE educates professionals on critical issues related to elder abuse through training workshops via the Los Angeles County Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST). The professionals are trained in the recognition, detection, investigating, reporting and prevention of elder abuse. The FAST team consults on complex cases of financial elder abuse and consists of experts such as physicians, lawyers, financial planners, psychologists, realtors, and individuals from the judicial system and law enforcement who donate their time to help prevent elder abuse and prosecute those who have committed the crime. ©2004 WISE Seniors, Inc. All Rights Reserved.