ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Cash, Checks, and Personal Information
Caregivers Steal Property and Identity
Preventing Caregiver Theft
In-home caregivers have access to a senior’s cash, bank accounts, other valuables and perhaps worst of all confidential information that provides access to accounts or impersonation of a senior in financial matters. In one recently reported case*, police arrested a caregiver who allegedly stole thousands from a senior she cared for and allegedly used the senior’s personal information to apply for a loan for more money to steal. The Alameda County financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent seniors in Alameda County and throughout California victimized by any form of caregiver theft or financial elder abuse. If you or someone you know is a victim of financial elder abuse in Alameda County, San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call us today at 415-441-8669, and we can help.
In the reported case, detectives investigated the senior’s financial records for several weeks before making the arrest. Police discovered that the caregiver had used the senior’s personal information to apply for a loan after she had already taken all the senior’s available cash, according to the complaint.
The allegations in the reported case illustrate how dangerous theft of personal information can be in addition to theft of cash and other valuables on hand. There is no way to be entirely safe from financial elder abuse but there are a few important steps you can take to protect your older loved ones:
• Always run a background check and contact references for any in-home caregiver before hiring them even if you are going through an agency.
• Never ever grant a Power of Attorney to a caregiver or show them a trust, Will or other financial papers.
• Keep cash, checks, ATM cards, credit cards, and Social Security and bank account numbers out of reach.
• Lock up jewelry and silver in a safe place. If jewelry, silver and gold are accessible they may be gone in a flash. Make an inventory of the personal property in the senior’s home.
• Never designate a caregiver as an authorized signer on any bank account.
• Never share a senior’s Social Security number with anyone, particularly an in-home caregiver.
• Frequently review the senior’s bank statements, records and mail.
• Speak to the senior alone, without the caregiver present, to find out any problems they may be having.
Report any suspicions to the police but also call elder abuse counsel to pursue all civil remedies available to senior victims under California elder abuse law. Our lawyers handle elder abuse cases of all varieties and know the remedies, extra damages, and awards of attorneys’ fees and costs to which you or your victimized loved one is entitled.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one been the victim of elder abuse in Alameda County, San Francisco or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other Evans Law Firm elder abuse attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We can help guide your case through investigation, discovery, through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
- Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in this case in any way.
