Senior Fraud on the Rise

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reported that suspicions of financial fraud against seniors filed with the Treasury Department in 2017 were up 19 percent from the previous year, according to the Wall Street Journal . The report calculated that the corresponding financial damage totaled $1.7 billion, with seniors losing an average $34,200 when incurring a monetary loss. Losses topped $100,000 in 7 percent of cases. The bulk of the 2017 reports, 58 percent, were filed by money-transfer service providers, while 35 percent came from banks and other depository institutions and 7 percent were filed by brokerage firms and similar businesses. The CFPB suggested 2017's filings may constitute less than 2 percent of actual incidents. "Money services businesses could prevent more losses by blocking money transfers to people who previously aroused suspicion, providing conspicuous warnings about current scams on money transfer forms, and thoroughly training all agents," the bureau concluded.