Fraud and Financial Abuse of Older Persons

• NCJ Number: 182805
• Journal: Current Issues in Criminal Justice Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 273-291
• Author(s): Russell G. Smith
• Date Published: March 2000
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: This article is an extended and revised version of a paper previously published by the author in the series "Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice," (No. 132) Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 1999.

Annotation

This paper examines the prevalence, nature, and impact of fraud and financial abuse against older persons in Australia, and suggestions are offered for addressing these crimes.

Abstract

For the purposes of this study, "older persons" are defined as "those over 65 years old." Given the increase in the number of persons in this age group, it can be expected that the number of older Australians who will be victimized through fraud as well as other offenses will also increase. The focus of this study is whether the rate of increase of fraud victimization will be greater than the rate of increase in the population of older persons, and whether older persons will be victimized by fraud more than other types of crime. This study examines financial abuse by legally appointed agents, fraud in health care products and services, residential care services, capital investment, and Internet business practices. Suggestions for prevention and control of such fraud and financial abuse against older persons focus on legislation, law enforcement efforts, education and information, enhanced reporting of fraud, regulation and services by statutory authorities, and private sector initiatives. 1 table and 50 references