The Office of Older Americans under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is continuing its visits with senior groups across the United States to help identify potential fraud targeting the elderly and take the proper precautions to avoid it.
In his latest travels, the CFPB’s Skip Humphrey visited older Americans in Tampa Bay, Florida. There, he worked with elder law attorneys, advocacy leaders, regulator, prosecutors and local and federal law enforcement.
“As we all know, raising awareness about the frauds and scams facing older Americans is key to my work,” Humphrey wrote in a blog post following the visit.
Humphrey sat down with a local news station to discuss his work. In the segment, he outlines one of the most difficult types of fraud, but one that is common.
“It’s the situation where you have individuals who are elderly, who may have a diminished capacity to understand financial transactions, and they’ve asked their son, daughter, relative or friend to be of help. The next thing you know, they are not just helping that person, but also helping themselves,” he said.
The Office of Older Americans was launched under the CFPB in October 2011 and has made several visits around the country to speak with seniors as well as enforcement officials.
“We’re not going to let the scam artists out there keep operating,” he told a group in Tampa.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
