Financial elder fraud is a sophisticated online endeavor, and it can happen to anyone.
Normalizing awareness is key to helping you avoid it or navigating a crisis event as a family. When navigating how to handle fraud as a family, consider the following options.
Begin a Family Conversation
It doesn't have to be all about aging issues and can simply be about starting the discussion making the topic more accessible to the whole family. Start with your own situation. You might say, “I want an extra set of eyes on my financial accounts. Would you mind getting alerts if something happens? I can do the same for you.” This makes the conversation a 2-way street.
Create a Family Financial Management Plan
First, remember that money is an intimate space. Trying to act as if a financial plan is just a rational thing to do will likely get the opposite emotional response. Second, acknowledge the realities out loud: This is new, this feels hard, we are at a different life stage, let's partner for the future. Third, start slow and don't overwhelm. For example, in case of emergency, who are your parents' financial professionals and trusted advisors? Who is the lawyer, accountant, financial planner, and broker? Do you have contact information for a neighbor or someone who sees your parents regularly if you have concerns? Can you share access to online accounts, so you can more openly discuss money management?
Assign Money Management Jobs
Money management can be handled in a divide-and-conquer strategy. An additional option is to designate a family member as a “trusted contact” for a parent or loved one: that is, a person whom a financial institution may contact in certain circumstances, such as concern about activity in the elder person’s account and the elder person cannot be reached.
Stay Alert
Finally, stay alert on behalf of others and yourself. Financial elder fraud is damaging and real. Through open dialog with trusted helpers, people may prevent being taken advantage of. Being alert allows you to be the leader of your financial future.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Orlando Credit Union will NEVER call, email or text you and ask for personal information such as your PIN, Passwords or Social Security Number.
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Orlando Credit Union compiled this information from data gathering research.
