ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Unauthorized Debit Card Use Alleged
Victim Resided In Assisted Care Facility
Protecting Seniors From Caregiver Fraud
Unauthorized debit card and ATM transactions are common forms of financial elder abuse perpetrated on older persons. Dishonest persons working for seniors in their homes as caregivers are all too frequently perpetrators of this kind of fraud. If a dishonest caregiver has access to cards or confidential information about a senior like their Social Security Number, birthdate, bank accounts numbers and maybe even their account PIN, they can access the senior’s account anonymously online and transfer money to themselves. Or they can use the cards for unauthorized purchases and withdrawals if they know the PINs. Amounts transferred may start out small and if the caregiver believes he or she is getting away with it, the amounts will predictably grow over time. Any such theft is financial elder abuse. California broadly defines what constitutes financial elder or dependent adult abuse:
(a) “Financial abuse” of an elder or dependent adult occurs when a person or entity does any of the following:
(1) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(2) Assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.
(3) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains, or assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining, real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult by undue influence, as defined in Section 15610.70.
Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30.
Whatever the “form” or frequency or size of financial elder abuse, under this broad statutory definition, any taking of a senior’s property, or any assistance in that taking is a crime and grounds for civil liability of the person doing the taking and anyone assisting him or her. California Penal Code § 368. If you or a loved one is a victim of financial elder abuse in Santa Clara County or elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267). In certain caregiver fraud cases, Evans Law Firm represents victims on a contingency basis, meaning the firm is paid a percentage of any recovery and no upfront fees are paid by the victim to start the case.
Case Example
In one reported case of caregiver fraud/caregiver theft, [1] a caregiver has been arrested for the unauthorized use of a senior’s debit and ATM cards. According to police, the victim was a resident in an assisted care facility. One of the victim’s care facility aides is accused of taking the victim’s debit and ATM cards and making unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals with the cards. The caregiver has been arrested on felony theft and financial elder abuse charges. Charges are currently still pending.
Protecting Seniors From Caregiver Fraud
If an older loved one needs in-home care, always do a background check on any caregiver before he or she is hired. Ask for references and check them. If your loved one is in a facility check the facility’s record with the California Department of Health and Social Services; if the facility has an citations or complaints against it those should be posted online. There are other important steps to follow as well to prevent more elaborate schemes of financial abuse. Careful monitoring of a senior’s checking account – and close review of cancelled checks – may have caught the reported fraud in this case sooner. Always monitor a senior loved one’s checking account; take a look at it online every day if you can. Never, ever give a caregiver a Power of Attorney, credit card, or a blank check. Stay involved in any senior loved one’s life so a stranger does not have the opportunity for this kind of theft and exploitation.
Contact Us
If you sense any caregiver fraud or caregiver theft or other form of financial elder abuse of an older loved one in Santa Clara County or elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, call us right away. Ingrid M. Evans has years of experience in representing seniors and their families against abusers of any kind, including in-home caregivers. You can reach us at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
