Scammers prey on some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and seniors are prime targets because they are often in a state of mental decline and have built up savings for retirement. If your parents have fallen victim to these predatory individuals, you may feel like there is no recourse. But there are steps you can take if you are wondering, What to do if my parents got scammed.
At Marcia L. Campbell CPA, we have spent years helping protect seniors from scams with our elder private fiduciary services. Learn more in our blog.
Relevant Article: How Can I Protect My Elderly Parents from Scams and Fraud?
What to Do if My Parents Got Scammed?
If your parents have fallen victim to a scam, it’s rare to recover losses. However, there are steps to take to address the issue and prevent it from recurring. From recording all relevant information to using professional fiduciary services, here’s what to do.
Related Article: What Are the Elder Care Financial Service Options in California?
Record All Relevant Information
Recording information is crucial if your parents have been scammed. Document as many details as possible while your parents still remember them, such as:
- The date they were contacted
- The name of the person or company
- Phone numbers, emails, websites, and more that the scammer used
- How your parents paid or transferred money
- Where they sent funds
- The instructions the scammer gave your parents
Report the Scam
With all the relevant information, report this incident ASAP to the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311, which is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We also advise contacting legal services and their bank to alert them to the incident and flag or freeze accounts. In some situations, they may even reverse the charges, though it is unlikely that you can recover finances.
Unfortunately, fraud against seniors is typically not an isolated incident, so we also advise looking through their records to ensure this wasn’t the only occurrence.
“Look at bank accounts, insurance policies, investments and annuities, titles to property, and wills, trusts, and powers of attorney for unexplained charges or changes in ownership or beneficiaries to ensure that this isn’t an isolated incident. Unfortunately, this is often a way people will defraud seniors. Instead of stealing money while they are alive, these people will sometimes switch beneficiaries or account ownership so there is a legal transfer of assets upon the senior’s death.” – Marcia L. Campbell, CPA for Seniors
Prevent it from Happening Again with Trustee Services in California
If your parents have fallen victim to a scam, this may be a sign their mental capacity has deteriorated to the point that they are a liability to themselves.
Hiring a professional ensures they will make calculated decisions with their finances and act in your parent’s best interests due to their legal obligation to do so. In these situations, trustee services in California could be a great solution.
The most important action is to intervene and take more control over their finances so you can be vigilant and respond immediately. Doing this is a full-time job and requires:
- Regularly reviewing their bank statements
- Having consistent conversations with them about their lives and any new (and possibly suspicious) friends or anyone who may be asking for money
- Helping them with managing mail, writing checks, and paying bills, etc.
To relieve the burden this places on you and your parents, you can also help by finding a private professional fiduciary who can provide elder care accounting services, such as:
- Daily money management services: Daily money managers for seniors are also a viable option to monitor your parents’ finances, have regular conversations with them about their financial situations, and help with day-to-day tasks like reviewing bills, writing checks, and more.
- Using conservatorship: By using conservatorship, you can take control of their finances and monitor them more closely to ensure they are not falling victim to a scam.
- Using a trust: By setting up a trust with the help of an attorney, your parents can assign a personal fiduciary as the successor trustee to help with paying bills, distributing money and assets, collecting and managing income, tracking expenses, and monitoring finances to ensure they don’t fall victim again.
- Assigning a Power of Attorney for one specific bank account: You can also use a Power of Attorney to help seniors manage finances by appointing a California trustee as financial power of attorney over one specific bank account to sign checks, pay bills, manage paperwork, and stay vigilant for any suspicious charges and let your parents know when there is suspicious activity.
Related Article: How Trusts for Elderly Parents Manage their Finances
Have Your Parents Fallen Victim to a Scam? Find a Professional Fiduciary CPA to Prevent it from Happening Again!
Acting quickly is crucial for those looking for guidance regarding the query, What to do if my parents got scammed? Document the incident, report it, and enlist the services of a private fiduciary to shore up your parents’ defense and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Visit our Contact Page and schedule a consultation with a private professional fiduciary like Marcia L. Campbell CPA to stay a step ahead of these people with ill intent!
