White House joins fight against elder abuse


The war on elder abuse just got a big boost.

As reported recently in the Los Angeles Times, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a move coinciding with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Friday, June 15, announced that they are seeking public input to help them compile the most common types of abuse, as well as helping to assess the various resources available to the general public to help protect their older loved ones.

“The silent crime of financially exploiting the elderly is widespread and it is devastating. It is critical for us to act,” the bureau’s director Richard Cordray told a White House forum.

Cordray said one of the reasons seniors face financial fraud more than other age groups is because they tend to follow well-worn practices and routines, which makes it easier for scammers and fraudsters to take advantage of them, whether they live at home or in assisted living communities.

Additionally, Cordray said that scammers assume – and frequently they are correct - that seniors will be too ashamed to report the crime to authorities.

But seniors facing elder abuse are not alone.

“The generation that rebuilt and sustained this nation out of a devastating Depression, the dark hours of World War II, and the anxious fears of the Cold War deserve our care now in their turn,” the Times quoted Cordray as saying.

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