Has Financial Victimization of the Elderly in the U.S. Improved or Gotten Worse?

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire -- NEWS ADVISORY -- How many millions of Americans over the age of 65 already have been victimized in a financial swindle?  Has this problem gotten worse, improved, or stayed about the same since 2010?  Do adult children worry that their elderly parents are on the verge of being less able to handle their finances?  Can medical professionals play a role in detecting and acting on signs of diminished mental capacity that leaves older Americans vulnerable to financial abuse?

These are some of the key questions answered in a major new survey of more than 3,500 Americans – including large subgroups of those aged 65 and older and adult children with senior parents – conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) for the Investor Protection Trust (IPT), a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education and protection.  The new 2016 survey is benchmarked to an earlier IPT survey conducted in 2010.

The new elder fraud survey results will be released at 1:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday (March 22, 2016) during a live phone-based news event. IPT also will provide an update on its "Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation" (EIFFE) Prevention Program that is educating medical and legal professionals about how to spot older Americans who may be particularly vulnerable to elder financial abuse and then to refer these at-risk individuals to state securities regulators, adult protective services, and/or for further medical screening/capacity assessment as needed.

Speakers on the live, two-way phone-based news event (with full Q&A) will include:

• Don Blandin, president and CEO, Investor Protection Trust;
• Jim Williams, polling analyst, Public Policy Polling;
• Robert Roush, EdD, MPH, professor of geriatrics & director, Texas Consortium Geriatrics Education Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Huffington Center on Aging; and
• Irving Faught, JD, securities administrator, Oklahoma Securities Commission.

TO PARTICIPATE:  Join this phone-based news conference at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442.  Ask for the "IPT/Elder Fraud Survey" news event.

CAN'T PARTICIPATE?:  A streaming audio recording of the news event will be available on the Web as of 6 p.m. EDT on March 22, 2016 at http://www.investorprotection.org.

SOURCE Investor Protection Trust

Related Links

http://www.investorprotection.org