Many seniors are at risk of falling victim to con artists who prey on them in an effort to gain access to their savings and any assets they have accumulated over the years. An example of such a scam occurs when a fraudulent individual pretending to be an IRS agent telephones the potential victim, stating that the individual owes unpaid back taxes, and makes threats to sue or arrest the senior, or suspend their driver’s license.

Seniors are also susceptible to health care scams in which people call posing as health care or Medicare representatives in an attempt to obtain the senior’s personal and contact information. They will then call the senior back at some future date, stating that they communicated with their son or daughter, who said it was fine to give them their Social Security number. In addition, scammers may offer to help seniors obtain health insurance. The National Council on Aging said that in several cases, they use the personal information to bill Medicare, and keep the funds.

Seniors must also exercise caution when dealing with professionals in whom they have placed their trust, such as financial advisers. It is not unheard of for such advisers to commit fraud and embezzle funds from seniors’ investment accounts. For this reason, it is important to use only established firms as advisers.

Some con artists will even go so far as to pose as a grandchild or great-grandchild in an attempt to secure funds from the senior. In addition, due to the increasing cost of prescription drugs, some seniors search for drugs online. But many of these drugs are counterfeit. Or, upon receipt of funds, the scammers just accept the money without delivering the medications.

Another scam is the obituary scam in which the con artist reads the obituaries, and contacts the family members to inform them that the deceased left an outstanding debt, and is calling to collect on the debt.

Fraudulent behavior has also been committed by people who work at funeral homes. They will advise the senior to purchase the priciest casket, even when a cremation will be performed. They may also add extra charges to the bill for cemetery plots.

Furthermore, tech support scams occur in which a person calls the senior pretending to be a technician from Microsoft or another well-known brand. The person then uses scare tactics to say that there is a virus on the computer and the technician must remotely access the computer in order to install software. Then the scammer requests payment in the form of hundreds of dollars via online or with the use of a credit card, and if the senior resists, the scammer threatens to destroy the computer.

Consumers can report scams to the Federal Trade Commission by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP or visiting ftc.org/complaint.

Seniors can lose thousands of dollars in such scams. Victims rush out to send the money, so concerned for their grandchild’s well-being that they do not pause to doubt the circumstances of the call. Scammers rely upon their victims’ familial reactions. They know that some who answer the phone will respond emotionally long before they consider the situation rationally.

Law enforcement officials have reported a recent resurgence in the crime in recent months. The Grandparent Scam is not restricted to one group or one area. Within March of 2014, victims from North Carolina, Colorado, New York and Ohio have all reported the traps.

In North Carolina, Wake County police have suggested that the scams are growing more complex. Now, perpetrators may be gleaning information for use from social media sites. If a grandchild has a sufficiently detailed, publicly available Facebook profile, scammers may use it to enhance their impersonations for a grandparent.

MoneyGram, a Dallas money-transfer company, has issued a public warning against the scam. “While this scam has been around since 2008, it’s becoming more elaborate. As consumers become wise to it, the fraudsters are adapting, sometimes using email and social media to target victims, which makes the scam more difficult to detect,” warned Kim Garner, MoneyGram’s Senior Vice President of Global Security. Other wire-transfer companies include a warning against the scam directly on the forms needed to send money to the alleged “grandchild.”

Money wire and fund transfer phone scams are unfortunately common, and they can take many forms. The most crucial defense against them is information. If you receive, or if someone tells you they have received, a request for immediately wired funds, ask questions. Scams often collapse in their details.

If a “grandchild” needs help, he or she will be able to speak with you about facts, details and knowledge you share. After you end the call, call the number you know for your grandchild. Contact the police station supposedly holding him or her independently. Then, if you suspect a trap, contact your local police force, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Consumers League.

The Hale Law Firm believe the right solution to your estate planning, elder law, or probate needs can be identified in a free initial consultation with one of our attorneys and counselors at law. To learn more or to contact a Dallas estate planning attorney, visit http://www.thehalelawfirm.com/ or call 972.351.0000

Scams targeting the elderly are spreading.

According to Federal Trade Commission data, 26 percent of 2012 fraud complaints made to the agency were made by people age 60 and older (the highest of any age group). That figure represents an increase from 2008, when their rate stood at 10 percent, the lowest for any age group.

According to a 2010 survey by the Investor Protection Trust, an organization that promotes education about financial matters, 20 percent of Americans age 65 and older have been the victims of some kind of financial abuse.

Metropolitan Life Insurance reported that financial abuse cost seniors $2.9 billion or more in 2010 — a 12 percent increase in two years.

The problem is likely much worse than statistics reveal, because experts estimate that only 10 percent of fraud is reported. Many fraud victims are embarrassed to have been tricked or do not believe that reporting the crime will make any difference.

Law enforcement officials acknowledge that the sheer instance rate of fraud means that many cases cannot be investigated within the limited available resources.

Learn more from an estate planning lawyer at Littman Krooks by visiting http://www.elderlawnewyork.com/.

FINRA warned investor never to reveal personal information to an unsolicited caller and never to authorize a transfer of funds at the direction of an unknown person.

Gerri Walsh, a FINRA senior executive, said that if you are not sure if the person you are talking to is a legitimate representative of a brokerage firm, the best course of action is to quickly end the call and then call the firm’s customer service department.

FINRA said that investors who suspect they have been victims of this type of scam should contact their financial institution immediately to report theft through electronic funds transfer. People who believe their identity may have been stolen should follow the Identity Theft action plan available on the website of the Federal Trade Commission.

According to Glenn Clark, a member of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division “Senior Brigade,” between 55 and 80 percent of the telemarketing scams they see are aimed at seniors. The grandparent scam, sometimes known as the “emergency scam,” occurs when the con artist obtains the name and phone number of an elder. They can do this simply by combing public records.

The scammer calls a senior and says some version of, “Hi, Grandpa! This is your favorite granddaughter.” The victim may respond with, “Susan?!” or a pet name, and now the scammer has a name to use. Often the call is made to sound as if there is interference or static on the line to disguise his or her voice. The scammer will say there has been some emergency, or that she is stuck far from home and needs funds wired immediately. The sense of urgency and heightened emotion on the other end of the line can cause some elders to become confused and anxious, especially if they are hard of hearing or have some cognitive decline issues.

Tips? Slow down. Ask for personal details if you are unsure if the caller is legitimate. Get their contact information, and hang up. Contact a mutual relative for verification. Did the caller ask you to not tell their parents they are in trouble? Do it anyway. Or, contact local police on a non emergency line for assistance in verifying the call.

If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, you may file a report with police, Attorney General’s office (877-765-8388) or the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov).

Christopher J. Berry is an elder law attorney Dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.theeldercarefirm.com/ or call 248.481.4000

‘Pension Poachers’ are “helping” veterans hide assets to ensure they qualify for Aid and Attendance, typically by charging high fees to set up annuities and trusts (up to $10,000).

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has an outrageous backlog of disability claims, reported to amass more than 600,000 claims in all. Both compensation benefit and Aid and Attendance (Pension) benefit applicants are suffering an 8 to 18 month waiting time for benefits to be approved.

(Read more: Skilled Nursing Facilities Face Harsh Reality and Financial Pressures)

The New York Times reports that the VA indicates that there is a specific reason why Aid and Attendance claims are being held up: ‘pension poachers.’

Aid and Attendance or Improved Pension is a benefit available to disabled or aging wartime veterans, in addition to surviving spouses of a veteran who now require assistance covering the cost of care. This benefit helps supplement income being used to pay for medical expenses, including caregivers at home, or adult day care, or care in a facility personal care or skilled nursing. When compared to Medicaid eligibility, it is a simple application. However, there is an asset limit which is where the so-called ‘pension poachers’ apply.

In an effort to prevent lawyers from making the process adversarial, the VA has a prohibition against paying for expert help. Dating back to Civil War times, this prohibition, in modern times, has the opposite effect as intended. A predominant number of families learn about the Aid and Attendance benefit from experts who are also financial planners. These planners often specialize in helping families apply for benefits from the VA but frequently use financial products like annuities and trusts to reduce the assets to within reasonable limits.

(Related: Michigan seniors feel effects of federal cuts)

This variety of planning is not in violation of VA rules since the VA does not currently have a “look back” for transfers when applying for Medicaid. With that said, deferred annuities can be both devastating and expensive for an elderly person, and an irrevocable trust can result in the person’s disqualification from Medicaid if he or she needs to enter a nursing home within the next five years.

(Related: Rural Areas Could Suffer In States That Opt Against Medicaid Expansion)

The system is being clogged by pension poachers who are preying on veterans, who are submitting thousands of applications for people for whom this benefit was not intended. Senator Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina have introduced a bill to cap “bogus claims.” In part, they are relying on the Federal Trade Commission reports and the findings of an undercover operation by the Government Accountability Office that determined that financial and estate planning professionals are “helping” veterans hide assets to ensure they qualify for Aid and Attendance, typically by charging high fees to set up annuities and trusts (up to $10,000). Senator Wyden believes by reducing the abuses, they will reduce the backlog. They added that the benefit was not intended to help veterans save money for their heirs.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130609/LIFE01/130609326/-pension-poachers-blamed-for-backlog-in-approval-of-va-applications

Christopher J. Berry is a Michigan elder law attorney Dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.michiganelderlawattorney.com/ or call 248.481.4000