I am linking here to a pretty good article about the Elder Abuse Prevention & Prosecution Act. It was written by the Sketchley Method (TSM) and can be found HERE.
The goal of the Act is to:
- Improve elder abuse data collection at local, state, and federal levels;
- Improve law enforcement training and technical assistance regarding elder abuse;
- Provide improved victim assistance to victims of elder abuse;
- Improve and support federal prosecution of elder abuse; and
- Create enhanced penalties for those who engage in telemarketing and email scams targeting elders
Per TSM, The Act expands the federal crime of defrauding the elderly. Examples include the following scams:
- Buy goods or services;
- Enter a contest/sweepstake;
- Give charitable donations, gifts or contributions;
- Offer/promote Investment;
- Offer/promote business opportunities or loans; and
- Participation in a fraudulent medical study, research study, or pilot study.
I do not think there are enough laws on the books to protect seniors from this type of fraud. I once had a client who had over 20 subscriptions to the same magazine. The scammer would call back every day., convince her to subscribe, and she didn’t remember that she subscribed the day before. This despicable behavior needs harsher punishments.