Mr. X was a 90-year-old male living alone in his home. His cognitive impairment, progressive dementia leading to delusion, and paranoia was affecting his daily living. His decreased memory led to poor judgment and bad decisions. As the situation became worse, he became more confused, suspicious and anxious, posing a danger to himself and others.
Mr. X’s family became aware he had become a victim of financial exploitation; however, they could not gain control of the situation from afar. Although estate planning documents were in place, the children did not have legal authority to act on their father’s behalf based on the language provision in the existing documents. The family proactively sought out Senior Advocacy Group to assist.
Our client was being financially defrauded out of thousands of dollars in online investment ventures. He was made to believe he was a member of an elite investment group guaranteed to make great gains in the stock market with cash contributions of $5,000 to $15,000. The fraudsters mailed our client iPads with pre-loaded programs designed to make him enter his credit card number, enabling them to collect up recurring charges. They would also mail burner phones so they could contact him without being traced.
In addition, our client was exhibiting compulsive shopping behaviors by engaging in online and mail order purchases of supplements touting cures for memory function improvement. Once on a marketing list, our client once again became easy prey for further financial abuse, with companies using his credit card and bank account information on file to enroll him in recurring purchase programs. It had become a game of cat and mouse.
Senior Advocacy Group partnered with the client’s family and obtained permission to swiftly address this financial abuse and establish safeguards to secure their father’s health and well-being
Senior Advocacy Group Outcome:
- Employed persistent recovery efforts to achieve asset recovery of over $80,000
- Implemented a financial protection plan that included credit and bank monitoring to abate suspicious activity or irregularities
- Partnered with family to place all bills on auto-debit, eliminating the need for our client to have access to credit cards or checking accounts
- Provided boots-on-the-ground care via weekly visits to client to ensure client is eating, in good health, and living in a safe environment
- Reported weekly findings to family
- Implemented and maintained a digital vault for all important papers and financial reports
- Coordinated and served as resource for finding service providers and caregivers such as a private chef, mental health experts, home maintenance referrals and administrative assistance