Economic Elder Abuse Increasing

[From article]

Elderly people are robbed of cash and assets worth more than £78m each year, and in most cases the culprits are members of their own family, according to new research by Action on Elder Abuse (AEA).
The money is obtained through theft, threats or trickery, and the scale of the problem warrants the creation of a new crime of “elder abuse”, campaigners say.
There has been a fourfold increase in calls to the AEA’s helpline over the past two years, from 5,722 in 2012-13 to 21,267 in 2014-15.
While thousands of people report cases of neglect and verbal, physical and psychological attacks, the single biggest type of abuse reported is financial. These cases involve the theft of money or assets, or elderly people being persuaded to part with money and in some cases their homes.
Reports of financial abuse logged by AEA have rocketed more than tenfold, 

[. . .]

Tactics used by relatives range from simple bullying and coercion to persuading victims to give them Power of Attorney to handle their affairs – and thereby gaining control of their money.
The majority of victims are women over 80. They have often outlived their partners and come from a generation not used to dealing with their own finances, according to the AEA.
The majority of perpetrators are sons and daughters or other relatives. Rising house prices have left some older people asset-rich, acting as a temptation to relatives, campaigners say.

[. . .]

“The real issue at the heart of elder abuse is that it’s families and friends hurting old people, and that’s the intolerable message the Government doesn’t want to deal with.”
The surge in cases where people had suffered financial loss was partly a reflection of an ageing society with a greater number of people who were vulnerable, Mr Fitzgerald said. Another problem was that of grooming, where perpetrators befriend an elderly person before going on to steal from them.
Recent years have seen “a greater tolerance of the abuse of older people before statutory agencies will intervene” due to reduced resources, he said.
“There needs to be a criminal charge of elder abuse. That does not exist at the moment.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/elderly-being-robbed-of-millions-each-year-by-their-own-families-says-new-research-10498387.html

Elderly being robbed of millions each year by their own families, says new research
JONATHAN OWEN
Saturday 12 September 2015