Fraud Against Elderly People

Individuals above 65 years of age usually are not susceptible to high rates of criminal oppression as compared to people falling under other age categories. This fact can be primarily attributed to the socio economic environment and the behaviour of elder people. There are broadly three categories of offences against the elderly, which can be listed in the economic crimes section – pecuniary deceits, consumer frauds and issues pertaining to power of authority and guardianship. Statistics reveal that such people are relatively more vulnerable to deception in the field of consumer affairs. Consumer frauds broadly envelop unfair means undertaken for the sale or delivery of goods or services. The Australian laws do not accord separate recognition to fraud as a crime. Rather deceit in a number of crimes relating to property might be employed to indict fraudulent conduct.

In the area of consumer affairs, fraud may be conducted in a number of areas including Internet selling and telemarketing. Frauds in the sphere of telemarketing encompass unfair activities done with an intention of coercing a potential customer to shell out money for a product, service or scheme which is of restricted advantage to the customer but of immense profits for the seller. Telemarketing frauds have emerged as a major and distinct sphere of crime targeting especially the people belonging to the higher age bracket. The figures pertaining to crime in the United States reveal that as much as $40 billion is mislaid on account of such frauds and 56% of the victims of telemarketing frauds were above fifty years of age. Apart from this the spurt in usage of latest information technologies has posed an added risk to the existing deceitful online activities. People of all ages are being deceived through utilization of computer technology but the vulnerability factor rises high in case of elderly people who are not very well conversant with the nitty gritty of the modern technology.

In USA, the highest percentage of complaints filed with Consumer Affairs Courts comprise of vehicle related issues. These complaints cover cases of purchase of new vehicles and repairing and mechanical upgradation of old vehicles. People above fifty years of age often fall prey to fraudulent activities in the automobile repair sector including needless repairs, inflated charges for basic services, misleading advertisements and promotion campaigns. Elderly people become particularly susceptible to such practices because of their limited awareness of the recent developments in automobile technology.

Fraudulent practices pertaining to reconstruction or renovation of dwelling put forth the second highest number of consumer complaints in the United States. The grievances in this area of consumer affairs are ordinarily against service providers who accept the advances or begin the project but never return to complete the task and who cannot be contacted inspite of the best efforts of the consumer. Some complaints are also targeted at contractors who submit substandard work or undertake superfluous tasks just to enhance their profit margins.

Older people are also victimized by fraudulent practices in monetary dealings connected to investments and savings. The government has formulated a number of policies and schemes with an objective to persuade people to save a portion of their income throughout their work tenure to serve as a cushion in the latter half of their life. But the criminal minds have not spared even this hard earned money of people. There have been cases where the directors and promoters of big companies have vanished after embezzling the pensions and gratuity funds of their employees. A number of elderly people have sizeable assets which they may want to invest for lucrative returns. They often look towards attorneys and other specialists for advice in matters of investment but it is more than often that such professionals deceive the advice seekers. In the garb of professional advice, such so called investment experts often siphon off the assets and funds of the aged people, to their own accounts.
A variety of factors influence the gravity of impact of a fraudulent practice on the aged people. The effect may be more solemn where the value of assets or funds mislaid is large or where the victim has lost the means of financial independence as a result of the fraudulent misappropriation. A person may be forced to postpone his retirement, in cases of embezzlement of pension or superannuation funds. In some cases the victims may be physically or mentally affected by the resultant anxiety, tension and depression.

The authorities entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing laws and regulations have to play a dual role by probing into frauds committed against the older people and also have to spread awareness regarding the perils and preventive steps. Many countries have promoted the formation of self-help groups pioneered by aged volunteers. It is hereby submitted that the efficacy of such groups and other remedial measures in this area can be enhanced by targeting the awareness programs at people who have suffered due to fraudulent practices, at one point of time or other. It is only after evaluating the actual happenings or incidents, that the trends in such offences can be duly recognized and effective precautionary measures be drafted and implemented. Streamlining of the activities of various consumer redressal organizations along with promotion of efforts in the commercial or business sectors for discerning fraudulent elements and initiation of preventive measures by them should be ensured. In America, a special training course was designed under which employees of banks were trained to detect probable cases of deceit pertaining to bank holdings of older people. This program yielded very good results with a number of swindlers being apprehended.

Checking of consumer fraud is a tedious task but is nevertheless not impossible. What is required is integration of the efforts of the redressal organizations, the law enforcement agencies and the people themselves. This in turn would ensure that cases of consumer frauds are reported without any time lag and thereafter the cases are duly enquired into and the offenders are appropriately punished and the aged people are shielded from such sort of victimization in the future.

Free-lance writer with special interest in social issues.