Protecting At-Risk or Vulnerable Adults

As your parents, or other loved ones around you age, it's important to help them understand the potential dangers of fraud and financial abuse. Learn how you can educate and help protect them.

Identifying Fraud听& Financial Abuse听

As your loved ones age, you鈥檙e faced with new concerns 鈥 one of which is helping to educate and protect them against fraud. A financial abuser can come in the form of a stranger, a friend, a caregiver or even another family member who encourages or coerces your loved one into making transactions or taking out large sums of cash.

If you feel that your loved one or a senior you know is a victim of financial abuse or fraud,听call M&T at 1-800-724-2440听(Monday鈥揊riday 6am鈥9pm, Saturday鈥揝unday 9am鈥5pm ET)听to get immediate help.

鈥婥ommon Senior Fraud Scams

Your loved one may be a target because of their age. Senior citizens sometimes have difficulty with technology, can become disoriented or confused, or mistakenly trust the wrong person out of a desire for companionship. Help protect your loved one by becoming familiar with the most common scams.

  • Be wary of suspicious solicitation.听Whether in person or over the phone, no one should ask your loved one to send them money unless they have chosen to buy something and have determined the organization is reputable and trustworthy
  • Beware of checks from strangers.听Fraud artists often ask innocent victims to deposit a check and then send a portion of the money back to them immediately via wire or by funding a prepaid card. In these cases, the check is often no good
  • Avoid lottery scams.听Your loved one may be notified that they鈥檝e won a foreign lottery. To collect their winnings, they need to wire a certain amount of money to cover 鈥渢axes鈥 and they鈥檒l be paid once the funds are received
  • Question inheritance notifications.听Your loved one may receive a letter informing them that they鈥檝e inherited a large sum of money, but in order to accept the balance, they must wire transfer funds to a specified individual
  • Be skeptical of requests for romance or companionship.听Fraudsters may pose as someone seeking friendship or romance and, after establishing trust, trick your loved one into providing money for an 鈥渆xpense鈥
  • Avoid selling expensive items on the Internet.听A scammer may send a counterfeit check that is more than the item鈥檚 sale price and ask that the seller, your loved one, wire transfer the excess amount back to the buyer

Other Useful Resources

Below, we鈥檝e listed a few resources that provide more information about protecting elderly and vulnerable adults from fraud:

Learn how to protect鈥 yourself.

Stay current on fraud protection best practices, take advantage of useful tools, and find helpful tips on our听How to Protect Yourself听辫补驳别.

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