YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL… By Dr. Eva Mor
Author of “Making the Golden Years Golden”
Mrs. C. was 85 years old when our agency was hired by her son to provide home care for her. Up until that point, Mrs. C. lived on her own while her son lived in another state and traveled a great deal for his work.
He was relieved to have us step in and initially provide his mother with eight hours of care, seven days per week. She was very demanding and difficult to please, which took some time for the aides working with her to get used to. She called the agency day and night, and we seemed to provide direct or indirect care 24 hours a day.
Mrs. C. was suspicious and did not trust anyone, either in person or over the phone, which is why it was so unusual for her to be a victim of fraud. Nonetheless she became one.
Elder Care - Fraud Prevention And Protection
A routine was established for Mrs. C. and she seemed to begin to trust the two aides who were caring for her. The number of hours that we provided home care increased, first to 12 hours per day, then to 24 hours. Basically, Mrs. C. was never left alone anymore. Our aides were well trained to ferret out fraudulent phone calls and attempt to swindle money from patients.
At some point, Mrs. C. was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat. The hospital allowed us to provide her regular aide only during the day. Therefore, she was on her own in the hospital room at night.
Within five days we brought the patient back home. A month later her son called me and asked if any of the aides working with his mother live inFlorida. I did not understand what he meant, but told him that both aides lived inNew York City.
He explained that he was billed by a credit company, from which he never had a credit card, for $18,000, for furniture and other household goods that were purchased inFlorida. The credit card had been created in his mother’s name.
His mother never had a credit card in her life, and throughout her life she never handled the family’s finances – her husband had taken care of all the bills and check writing. After he passed away, her son took over the handling of all his mother’s financial affairs.
I knew that my aides had nothing to do with the fraud, and they informed us that there were no suspicious calls in which Mrs. C. gave out any information on the phone to anybody that could have been used for opening a credit card account.
With the investigation that the credit card company pursued, it seemed that the personal information had been gotten from the hospital, while Mrs. C. was hospitalized. Who had penetrated the hospital records, and whether it was done by computer or through paper records, is not quite clear. She may also have been approached by somebody at the hospital and, thinking that the person was part of the hospital staff, may have given out some information. Either way, it seems that her Social Security number, name, address, and date of birth were accurately lifted.
In Mrs. C.’s case, all her incoming mail was forwarded to her son and he immediately acted upon this fraud. But often the target of fraud is a senior who has no one to verify the bills for correct charges, and many times will pay for purchases he or she never made. Some of the seniors may also not know that they are not liable for purchases they have not made and, if contested, the credit card company will remove the charges from their account. It takes some calling and following up, but there is no need to rush and pay for it.
In many cases, no matter how careful we are, we still can be victims of fraud, but we can reduce the chance of it happening by being suspicious and cautious.
For more information, please log onto: www.goldenyearsgolden.com
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Eva Mor, PhD, an epidemiologist and specialist in gerontology and health care management, has worked with the elderly for more than 23 years. She holds an M.A. in Gerontology and Health Administration.
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