Elder Abuse

1. PREDATORS CLASSIFICATION: Crimes Against the Elderly

2. National Center on Elder Abuse

3. Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly (CANE)

4. A Citizen's Guide to Preventing and Reporting Elder Abuse

PREDATORS CLASSIFICATION: Crimes Against the Elderly

Elderly people are those most often affected by scams. They often live alone, have spent their whole lives saving money, and are part of a trusting generation. All of these factors make them easy prey to a skillful predator, who uses various types of scams to lure them in. These crimes range from simple telephone traps to intricate white-collar ploys, where the elderly person is conned into investing in bonds that are not legitimate and is cheated out of his life's savings. Another common scam is the salesman who comes to a senior citizen's home and offers to provide a service, for example spray the roof with a protective coating. He is passing through the neighborhood and is willing to do the service quickly at a "discounted rate." It is only later that the elderly person finds out that the protective coating was actually a spray of water. Religious individuals are often victims of simple scams. For example, Dallas television evangelist solicited people to send in donations and letters and promised to read the letters and pray for the people. The donations were extracted but the letters were discarded and later found in his trash. Another popular scam involves taking advantage of an elderly person by breaking into his or her house while the individual is at a funeral. The predator will find out the details of a scheduled funeral and then breaks into the house of the elderly person who is attending the service. Elderly abuse in the nursing care system is also common, with workers frequently stealing from the residents.

If you have a good resource for this type of crime, please send it to us via our Contact Us form.