Fraud Alert: Financial fraud against older Americans peaks during holidays
Instances of financial
abuse and fraud against the elderly increased from November 2010 to January
2011, according to a recent report from MetLife, which found overall investment
fraud targeted towards older Americans is on the rise.
Americans over the age
of 65 lost nearly $3 billion to financial abuse from April to June 2010, up 12
percent from the same period in 2008, according to the report. During that
time, 51 percent of the fraud cases reported were perpetrated by strangers, 34
percent by family, friends, and neighbors and 12 percent by businesses.
In a separate look at the holidays, MetLife reports fraud by family and friends
increased to 45 percent.