by Jeffrey L. Boney
Associate Editor, Houston Forward Times
Did you know that in 2023, $3.4 billion in losses were reported by senior citizens who filed fraud complaints and were scammed out of their hard-earned money?
Interestingly, that was a 14 percent increase from the previous year—2022.
Fast forward to this year, and reports reveal that through May 2024, fraud losses involving the elderly are up approximately $300 million from the same timeframe last year.
Yes, you heard that correctly!
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and their most recent Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) data, there were already $1.6 billion in losses from January 2024 to May of 2024—a double-digit increase in financial fraud involving elder adults.
Sadly, many of these callous fraudsters target vulnerable and unsuspecting senior citizens on a regular basis and tend to take advantage of elder adults who may own real estate, have significant money saved up, have a great credit rating, or who have no family or friends to help them with their financial affairs. Once scammed, many elders feel embarrassed, and may choose not to even report the crimes committed against them—or may not know how to report it.
Here in Houston, a man was just recently indicted by a grand jury for allegedly scamming a 92-year-old man out of his northeast Houston home in 2021, according to court documents.
The vulnerable and unsuspecting 92-year-old man had been moved to an assisted living facility in north Houston after being diagnosed with dementia in 2021.
Keith Jones was charged with fraudulent securing of document execution in February of this year, and the details of how investigators say the 92-year-old victim was exploited are extremely disturbing and disheartening.
According to court documents, Jones deceived the 92-year-old by convincing him that he owed property taxes and claiming that he was going to make repairs to the elderly man’s home. Jones allegedly coerced the 92-year-old man to sign a general warranty deed to put his name on the man’s deed of trust as a guarantee that he was going to be paid upwards of $30,000. Three months after that general warranty deed was signed, the elderly man’s house was turned over to Jones and that is when the victim’s family became aware of the issue. The victim’s family told investigators they had never heard of Jones before, and there is no clear understanding of how Jones met and knew the 92-year-old man or was able to get that close to him to gain access.
Scammers are actively targeting the elderly in our communities every day, especially the African American community, in many different ways.
However, information is one of the most powerful weapons that the Forward Times can provide to protect you and your families against these ever-increasing scams.
At a recent briefing held at the Houston Endowment called “Spotting and Avoiding Scams in Greater Houston,” Stephanie Bauman, who serves as the Elder Justice Coordinator for the United States Attorney’s Office, shared details and explained why elder fraud should be taken seriously.
“I have been the elder justice coordinator in our office for a year, but I’ve handled cases for a number of years and what we tend to focus on when we take cases are the cases that touch victims in small amounts but aggregate to very large losses,” said Bauman. “I’ve handled cases where mostly the fraudsters are overseas. The people that are making the phone calls, sending the emails, sending the pop-ups on the computers, those people are overseas. When you realize that something has happened, please report it.”
Other panelists shared the importance of speaking up.
“Don’t be afraid to talk about scams,” stated Rosario Mendez, who is Assistant Director, Division of Consumer & Business Education, with the Federal Trade Commission’s Washington office. “Stop, think fraud!”
Elizabeth Tran, who is the Legal Services Director for Houston Volunteer Lawyers, stated that people can get help if they actually talk to somebody.
“A lot of people in our community are afraid to talk and they don’t want to tell other people about their woes,” said Tran. “They’re scared. They don’t want to be embarrassed, but a lot of times, too, is that they just don’t know whether or not they have a legal issue. They know that they’ve been wronged, and they need some help.”
Krystal Walker, who serves as Executive Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said that people should use due diligence to protect themselves and their families.
“My main take away I want everyone to take away is verify, verify, verify! I want people to just be diligent,” Walker emphasized. “If you care about your money—verify that you’re sending it to the right place and that you’re sending it to the right person. Don’t be afraid to ask.”
According to the FBI, although elder fraud can happen to anyone, at any time, there are some steps that can be taken to protect you and your families from becoming a victim, such as:
- Searching online for the contact information (name, phone number, email, addresses) of any unknown source that reaches out to you, as well as the proposed offer. Other people have likely posted information online about businesses and individuals attempting to run scams.
- Verifying the legitimacy of businesses on websites such as Better Business Bureau.
- Resisting the pressure to act quickly. Scammers create a sense of urgency to lure victims into immediate action, typically by instilling trust and inducing empathy or fear, or the promise of monetary gains, companionship, or employment opportunities.
- Being cautious of unsolicited phone calls, mailings, and door-to-door service offers.
- Never giving or sending any personally identifiable information, money, checks, gift cards, or wire information to unverified people or businesses
- Taking precautionary measures to protect you and your family’s identity should a criminal gain access to your device or account.
- Immediately contacting your financial institutions to place protections on your accounts and monitor for suspicious activity.
- Contact law enforcement authorities if you believe a potential crime has occurred.
If you wish to report elder fraud, please visit ReportFraud.ftc.gov or call 877-382-4357 and press 3. Reports can be filed anonymously or on behalf of someone else.
Let’s do our very best to keep our senior citizens safe and protected from elder fraud by any means necessary.