Is anyone paying attention?

Jeremy Nachtigall • April 8, 2021

The New York Times reported that 3% of all credit card fraud reported in the U.S. in 2020 was due to the Trump campaign triggering recurring payments from donors.  This should be a reminder that if you are providing care to your parents, make sure you are paying attention to their credit card bills.


It’s no surprise that our elder community is a prime target for financial scams. In the case where some folks are experiencing some forms of dementia, we need to pay special attention to what they are buying. Have you ever been sitting in your living room, watching TV, when an ad comes on for a product that you love and “must have”? What do you do? Like many people, you buy it. Now add some memory loss and confusion and the problem gets compounded.

Your parents might be giving money to every Tom, Dick and Harry who asks for it. This is occurring more and more as the population ages. I’ve experienced this with clients who have signed up for products and/or services that they don't even know about. When the bills come in, these frivolous or unauthorized charges usually go unnoticed unless there is someone paying attention.


There have been cases where I have found atypical charges that have been going on for years, with totals in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Sometimes, if we catch these charges soon enough they can be stopped and hopefully reversed. But in other cases, we can stop future charges but short of legal action (yet another expense), there may be very little recourse to recover all of the past payments.


You may benefit from the services of a daily money manager with experience in dealing with these types of issues, who knows what to look for, can go over the bills with a fine tooth comb, and can spend the time on the phone with these vendors.

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