GREENSBORO, N.C. — Your parents and your grandparents did everything they could to protect you from people who wanted to take advantage of you. And now, it's your turn to help protect them from scammers. And consumer reports has a few ways to do it.
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Older Americans are aggressively targeted by scammers. Financial abuse is actually the most common form of elder abuse. According to a study done by MetLife mature market institute, older Americans lose $3 billion every year to these scams. Another estimate shows only 1 in 44 victims reports the crime.
Before you get concerned about something, put safeguards in place. Help them set up an account with a small spending limit of say $300. That way, any other finances can be saved in a separate more secure account.
You can also ask a bank to send statements and alerts to a trusted contact so the person can check for fraud. Or sign up for a service like Eversafe that checks a senior's accounts daily for suspicious activity.