Are people with Alzheimer’s or dementia more vulnerable to financial abuse or financial exploitation?
According to a December 2013 article in The Wall Street Journal, one in every five Americans 65 or older has been abused financially. Taking into consideration that one in 10 individuals over the age of 65 develop Alzheimer’s disease, financial fraud among individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia is widely common, and these individuals remain prime targets. Older adults lose an estimated $3 billion each year to financial scams.
One of the biggest risk factors for financial abuse and exploitation is having some form of cognitive impairment, whether it be mild cognitive impairment or more substantial such as Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Some key factors that increase the risk of exploitation include loneliness and isolation, poor physical health and needing assistance with daily tasks, and age-associated brain changes that make people more trusting as they get older.
Many individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia often feel isolated and crave interaction, so they tend to befriend and trust scam artists who are polite, helpful and very manipulating. Affected individuals are more vulnerable and do not have the cognitive abilities to discern these strangers’ intentions.
Predators and scam artists persistently pursue unknowing affected…
