Meals on Wheels, Financial Scam Awareness, North Carolina 2019

In a shocking case of elder abuse, Meals on Wheels in Wake County partnered with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina to raise awareness about the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative and provide facts about financial scams. The event, which took place on August 29, 2019, aimed to educate approximately 1,300 seniors in the area on how to protect themselves from falling victim to financial scams.

The Elder Justice Initiative is on a mission to support and coordinate efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and scams that target our nation’s seniors. In Wake County, the initiative is working closely with Meals on Wheels to educate seniors on the risks of financial scams and how to respond to suspicious approaches.

According to the Elder Justice Initiative, over 13% of older Americans become victims of financial fraud every year, with 25% of those who are subject to a fraud attempt becoming a fraud victim. In addition, older adults lose more than $3 billion annually to financial scams.

The initiative has identified several common examples of financial scams, including overcharging for products or services, lottery and sweepstakes fraud, pretend romantic attention towards an older adult, scammers posing as government employees, and someone posing to be from the information technology field offering to fix a non-existent problem with your computer.

Fraud victims have been approached in various ways, including while in the grocery store, by knocking at the door, through the phone, through the internet, and through the mail. The initiative emphasizes that it’s the seniors’ right to not respond to these approaches and to say, “No, thank you” to someone who approaches them.

Meals on Wheels, through its partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, aims to provide seniors with the tools and knowledge they need to protect themselves from financial scams. The event is part of the ongoing efforts to combat elder abuse and financial exploitation in Wake County.

Seniors who wish to report elder fraud complaints can do so with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or by calling 877-FTC-HELP. They can also contact the Victim Connect Hotline between 9am-6pm, Monday through Friday, at: 1- 855-4VICTIM (1-855-4842846), or contact the Elder Justice Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina at (919) 856-4530.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/us-attorneys-office-partners-meals-wheels-wake-county-roll-out-phase-iii-department