Financial Exploitation

Did this happen to you or someone you know?

1. Has anyone taken or spent your money without your permission?
2. Has anyone sold or used things that belonged to you without your permission?  This could include your bank or credit cards, your checks, your personal property or your documents.
3. Has anyone made you sign legal documents you didn’t understand?
4. Has anyone forced, convinced or misled you to give them something that belonged to you? This could include a bank account, a credit card, a deed to a house, personal property, or other documents.
5. Has anyone pretended to be you to obtain goods or money?
6. Has anyone kept money from you that belonged to you? 
7. Has anyone stopped you from using your own money or kept information about your money from you?

Warning signs of financial exploitation include:

• Sudden changes in bank accounts or banking practices, including an unexplained withdrawal of large sums of money by a person accompanying the elder
• The inclusion of additional names on an elder's bank signature card
• Unauthorized withdrawal of the elder's funds using the elder's ATM card
• Abrupt changes in a will or other financial documents
• Unexplained disappearance of funds or valuable possessions
• Substandard care being provided or bills left unpaid despite the availability of adequate financial resources
• Discovery of an elder's signature being forged for financial transactions or for the titles of his/her possessions
• Sudden appearance of previously uninvolved relatives claiming their rights to an elder's property or possessions
• Unexplained sudden transfer of assets to a family member or someone outside the family
• The provision of services that are not necessary
• An elder's report of financial exploitation.