🎯 In 30 seconds: Financial exploitation of older adults comes from strangers (scams) and from people they know (a helper, a new friend, sometimes a relative). The best protection is set up early, while your parent is well and in charge: a trusted contact at each bank and brokerage, alerts that reach a second person, and legal paperwork. If you suspect exploitation now, call Adult Protective Services and the National Elder Fraud Hotline.
What it looks like
The FTC reports that people 60 and older reported about $3 billion in fraud losses in 2025, roughly five times the 2020 figure. Reported numbers are only part of the picture, because exploitation by family and caregivers is often never reported.
| Who | Typical pattern |
|---|---|
| Phone and online scammers | Tech support, government imposters, grandparent calls, romance and investment cons. Often ask for gift cards, crypto ATMs, wires or cash handed to a courier. |
| A new “friend” or romantic interest | Isolates the person, takes over bill paying, asks for loans or a spot on the deed or account. |
| Paid helpers | Small thefts that grow: cash from a purse, checks written to themselves, card used for “errands”. |
| Family members | Misuse of a power of attorney or joint account, pressure to change a will or beneficiaries. |
Warning signs to watch for
- Withdrawals, transfers or checks that don’t fit the person’s habits, especially round numbers.
- Gift card receipts, crypto ATM slips, or mentions of “the courier”.
- Bills going unpaid even though income hasn’t changed.
- A new name on accounts, new power of attorney, or changed beneficiaries.
- Secrecy: “I can’t talk about it”, a phone they keep turning face down, sudden anxiety about money.
- A new person who answers the phone for them or won’t leave you alone with them.
- Mail from lotteries, sweepstakes or unknown investment firms.
Protections to set up while everyone is well
Do these with your parent, not for them. Their consent and signature matter, and so does their dignity.
| Protection | What it does | How to set it up |
|---|---|---|
| Trusted contact at the brokerage | FINRA Rule 4512 has brokers ask for a person (18 or older) they can call if they suspect exploitation or can’t reach the customer. The contact can’t make trades or move money. | A form or online setting at each brokerage. Takes minutes. |
| Temporary hold | FINRA Rule 2165 lets a brokerage pause a payout for a customer 65 or older, or a vulnerable adult, when it suspects exploitation, and tell the trusted contact. | Automatic once the firm has a trusted contact on file; ask the firm how it handles holds. |
| Trusted contact at the bank | Some banks and credit unions now let customers name one, as the CFPB encourages. | Ask the bank. Not all offer it. |
| View-only access and shared alerts | A relative sees transactions without being able to move money. | Ask about “view-only” or “interested party” access; add a second phone or email to large-withdrawal alerts. |
| Durable power of attorney | Names who may manage money if your parent can’t. Choose with care: misuse of a POA is a common form of exploitation. | An estate attorney; see Secure Your Future. |
| Representative payee | For someone who can no longer manage Social Security benefits. | Through Social Security; the CFPB’s “Managing Someone Else’s Money” guides explain the duties. |
A worked example: Ruth, 81
Ruth spends about $2,400 a month: rent, groceries, medicine, utilities. Her son Ben has view-only access and alerts set for any single debit over $500.
| Monday | $900 cash withdrawal at the branch. Alert to Ben. |
| Wednesday | $900 again, another branch |
| Thursday | $1,000 at a store that sells gift cards |
| Four days total | $900 + $900 + $1,000 = $2,800, more than a normal month |
Ben calls Ruth and learns a “Microsoft technician” is “protecting” her savings. He calls the bank’s fraud line on the number on her card; the bank blocks further withdrawals pending a branch visit. Without alerts, the pattern usually runs until the account is empty. Because the alerts reached Ben within days, most of her $38,000 in savings is still there.
Raising it without a fight
- Pick a calm time and talk about scams in general first: “I read about a scam where they pretend to be Microsoft.”
- Ask, don’t accuse. “Has anyone called you about your computer or your bank lately?”
- Agree a family rule: no money moves because of a phone call, text or email without a call to you first. Add a family safe word (see voice clones and deepfakes).
- If the person exploiting them is someone close, stay connected; isolation helps the exploiter.
Where to report
| Danger right now | 911 |
| Adult Protective Services | Find the local office through the Eldercare Locator: 1-800-677-1116 (call or text) |
| National Elder Fraud Hotline (Justice Department) | 833-372-8311, Monday–Friday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern; free case managers for fraud against people 60 and older |
| FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors | 844-574-3577, for brokerage account concerns |
| The bank or brokerage | Their fraud line, on the number from the card or statement |
| Online fraud | IC3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov |
- Can a brokerage trusted contact make trades? Answer: No. The broker can only contact them about suspected exploitation or when it can’t reach the customer.
- Why set alerts that go to a second person? Answer: They catch unusual patterns, like Ruth’s $2,800 in four days, before the account is drained.
- Who finds your parent’s local Adult Protective Services office? Answer: The Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116.