The most common form of elder abuse is financial exploitation: the illegal or improper use of an older person’s money, property, or assets by someone with access or influence. Financial institutions filed suspicious activity reports flagging roughly $27 billion in suspected elder financial exploitation over a single twelve-month period ending in mid-2023,1Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN Issues Analysis on Elder Financial Exploitation and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded $4.885 billion in elder fraud losses from more than 147,000 complaints in 2024 alone.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI Highlights Growing Number of Reported Elder Fraud Cases One in ten Americans over 60 has experienced some form of elder abuse, yet studies suggest only about one in 24 cases is ever reported.
In an analysis of calls to a national elder abuse resource line, financial abuse accounted for roughly 55 percent of reported incidents, and family members were the perpetrators in nearly half of all cases. Older adults often have accumulated savings, own property outright, and receive steady income from pensions or Social Security. Cognitive decline, isolation, and physical dependence on others create openings that abusers use.
What Financial Exploitation Looks Like
The perpetrator is usually someone the older person trusts, which is what makes detection hard and reporting emotionally complicated. An adult child stealing from a parent can go unchallenged for years because the parent doesn’t want to believe it or fears losing the relationship. A few patterns show up repeatedly:
- Misuse of power of attorney, where a family member or appointed agent uses legal authority to drain bank accounts, sell property, or redirect income. Multiple states explicitly include breaches of fiduciary duty in their definitions of financial exploitation.3United States Department of Justice. Elder Justice Initiative – Elder Abuse and Elder Financial Exploitation Statutes
- Theft and account manipulation by someone with household access: cash stolen, checks forged, unauthorized transfers made.
- Coerced changes to legal documents, including pressuring an older person into changing a will, adding names to a deed, or signing over assets.
- Scams by strangers, including romance scams, fake government calls, lottery fraud, and tech-support schemes.
Scams Targeting Older Adults
Phone and online fraud is one of the fastest-growing categories. A few schemes are getting harder to spot.
AI voice cloning lets scammers replicate a person’s voice from a few seconds of audio pulled from social media or voicemail. They use the cloned voice to call an older adult pretending to be a grandchild or family member in distress and request an urgent wire transfer. Protective transfer scams work differently: a caller claims the elder’s bank account has been compromised or that a warrant has been issued, then pressures the victim to move money to a “safe” account the scammer controls. Account takeovers use stolen passwords from data breaches to get into an elder’s email or bank portal, after which the scammer tricks the victim into sharing verification codes.
These schemes work by combining trust with urgency. If an older person in your life gets a panicked call asking for money, encourage them to hang up and call the person back at a number they already have. That single step defeats most of the tactics in play.
Other Forms of Elder Abuse
Financial exploitation rarely exists in isolation. Abusers who steal often also intimidate, neglect, or physically harm the person they’re exploiting. The federal Elder Justice Act defines abuse broadly as the knowing infliction of physical or psychological harm, or the knowing deprivation of goods or services necessary to avoid harm.4GovInfo. 42 USC 1397j – Definitions
Neglect is a caregiver’s failure to provide basic necessities like food, water, medication, hygiene assistance, or a safe living environment. It can be intentional or the result of a caregiver who is overwhelmed. Either way, the consequences include untreated medical conditions, bedsores, malnutrition, and preventable suffering. Self-neglect, where an older person can no longer care for themselves and no one is stepping in, accounts for a large share of reports to Adult Protective Services.
Physical abuse means intentionally causing pain or injury, whether through hitting, shoving, improper use of restraints, or over-medicating someone to keep them quiet. Emotional abuse involves intimidation, humiliation, threats, or deliberately isolating an older person from friends and family; it often leaves no visible marks. Sexual abuse is any nonconsensual sexual contact with an older adult, and it occurs in both home and institutional settings.
Warning Signs to Watch For
No single indicator proves abuse is happening, but certain patterns should raise immediate concern.
For financial exploitation, watch for sudden changes in banking activity: large unexplained withdrawals, new signers on accounts, changes to a will or power of attorney that the elder can’t clearly explain, or unpaid bills when the person has adequate resources. A new “best friend” who accompanies the elder everywhere and speaks for them at the bank is a classic red flag.
For neglect, look for poor hygiene, unexplained weight loss, dehydration, untreated injuries, or bedsores. An elder who appears heavily medicated or unusually lethargic warrants closer attention.
For physical or emotional abuse, unexplained bruises, fractures, or welts are obvious signals, but behavioral changes matter just as much. Withdrawal from activities, flinching around a specific person, reluctance to speak openly, or sudden anxiety can all point to harm that doesn’t leave visible marks.
An elder’s denial doesn’t rule abuse out. Fear of retaliation, shame, and dependence on the abuser all keep victims silent.
How to Report Suspected Elder Abuse
If someone is in immediate physical danger, call 911. For situations that are serious but not an active emergency, you have several options.
Adult Protective Services
Every state runs an Adult Protective Services program that investigates reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older and vulnerable adults. In federal fiscal year 2023, APS agencies nationwide received over 1.5 million referrals and conducted more than 876,000 investigations.5Administration for Community Living. National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System – Home You can find your local APS office through the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116, a free national service run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.6U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Do I Report Elder Abuse
You do not need proof that abuse is occurring. APS investigates suspicions; your job is to report what you’ve observed. In most states you can file a report anonymously, and your identity as the reporter will be kept confidential.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman
When suspected abuse occurs in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or other long-term care setting, contact the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Authorized under the Older Americans Act, every state is required to operate an ombudsman program that advocates for residents’ rights and investigates complaints.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3058g – State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Ombudsman services are free.8U.S. Government Accountability Office. Long-Term Care: Information on the Ombudsman Program One limitation: ombudsman programs work to resolve problems on behalf of residents, but they do not have enforcement authority. If they uncover evidence of a crime or serious regulatory violation, they refer the matter to law enforcement or the agency that licenses the facility.
If You’re Afraid of Being Wrong
Nearly every state provides legal immunity to anyone who reports suspected elder abuse in good faith. If your report turns out to be unfounded but you genuinely believed something was wrong, you are shielded from civil and criminal liability. That protection disappears only if someone knowingly files a false report.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia also have mandatory reporting statutes requiring certain professionals, including healthcare providers, social workers, law enforcement officers, and long-term care staff, to report suspected elder abuse. Several states extend that duty to any person who suspects abuse. Even where you’re not legally required to report, you’re always permitted to, and the good-faith immunity applies.
Consequences for Abusers
Financial exploitation of an older adult is a criminal offense in most states and can also give rise to civil lawsuits.9U.S. Department of Justice. Elder Justice Initiative – State Elder Abuse Statutes Criminal penalties typically scale with the dollar amount involved. Stealing a few hundred dollars from a grandparent might be charged as a misdemeanor, while draining a retirement account can result in felony charges carrying years in prison. Many states treat the victim’s age or vulnerability as an aggravating factor that increases the punishment beyond what a comparable theft charge would carry.
On the civil side, victims or their representatives can sue to recover stolen assets and damages. A growing number of states authorize enhanced damages, sometimes double or triple the amount taken, plus attorney’s fees.
Federal law also applies. The Elder Justice Act, enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, established a coordinated federal response to elder abuse, funded Adult Protective Services programs, and created reporting requirements for long-term care facilities.4GovInfo. 42 USC 1397j – Definitions Federal prosecutors can bring charges under wire fraud, mail fraud, and other statutes when exploitation crosses state lines or involves federally regulated institutions.