Mn Department Of Commerce

Doctors asked to help identify victims of fraud

St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota officials are asking physicians and nurses to help identify when financial scams hit their older patients. Commerce commissioner Mike Rothman says his department is sponsoring the education program. Rothman said as many as one third of Minnesota's elderly in their 70s suffer from some form of dementia, from mild to severe.

"This will help train medical professionals, doctors and nurses, to help identify when seniors are financially stressed and to help them get the assistance they need to stop the epidemic of financial abuse of our elderly citizens," Rothman said.

The program is known as the EIFFE Prevention Program. It was developed by the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust and a number of independent, nonprofit investing advice groups as well as medical organizations, such as the American Geriatric Society.

Rothman says the program is used in more than two dozen states, where he says it has won the support of medical personnel.

"When you, people go the doctor one of the questions on an intake form might be, "have you had any financial stress lately," and if so then the doctor can follow up and then they can figure out if there's too much and if something bad financially has happened to them," Rothman said.

The anti-scam program will teach medical staff to call to the government offices which can help people who may have been defrauded.

Minnesota Department of Commerce launching effort to protect ...

Minnesota Department of Commerce launching effort to protect elderly Minnesotans from financial abuse

NEWS RELEASE

St. Paul, MN – As the state’s population continues to age, the Minnesota Department of Commerce announced it is joining a successful nationwide effort to protect elderly Minnesotans from investment fraud and other financial scams that prey on vulnerable adults.

The Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation Prevention Program is an unprecedented national effort that educates medical professionals about how to identify senior citizens who may be particularly vulnerable to investment fraud, and then refer those at-risk patients to local Adult Protective Services (APS) professionals.

“Within this decade, there will be more Minnesotans over the age of 65 than children enrolled in our public schools,” said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman. “By 2030, one out of every four people in our state will be 65 or older.

“With our aging population, bad actors will try to exploit vulnerable, aging adults. We recognize that threat. By participating in this proven program, our aim is to prevent financial abuse of senior citizens and provide another layer of consumer protection for vulnerable Minnesotans.”

New medical research shows that more than a third of Americans over the age of 71 have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer’s disease, making them particularly susceptible to investment scams and other financial abuse.

“We now know that a shockingly large number of older Americans are already victims of financial swindles and millions more are in danger of being exploited in such a fashion,” said Don Blandin, president and CEO of the Investor Protection Trust (IPT).

“Front-line medical professionals who deal everyday with older Americans are ideally positioned to spot the impaired mental capacity that can leave seniors vulnerable to financial abuse. This program seeks to inform doctors, nurses and others about the warning signs of elder investment fraud and financial exploitation.”

According to the 2010 IPT Elder Fraud Survey, more than seven million older Americans – one out of every five citizens over the age of 65 – already have been victimized by a financial swindle. According to the IPT, con artists scam senior citizens out of $2.5 billion every year.

“Senior citizens control 70 percent of the nation’s wealth – and crooks know it,” Commissioner Rothman said. For the financial well-being of Minnesota’s most vulnerable consumers, it is important that we have the foresight to proactively put systems like these in place that will help identify financial abuse, and protect vulnerable Minnesotans from bad actors.

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