Common examples of financial abuse of an older person:

• Appropriating the proceeds of the sale of an older person’s home with the promise of providing future accommodation or care and then not providing it
• Threats or undue pressure on an older person to sell their house or hand over assets
• Threatening, coercing or forcing an older person into signing paperwork concerning property, wills or powers of attorney
• Misusing or neglecting powers of attorney to manage an older person’s finances
• Using an older person’s bank accounts, credit cards or financial documents without authorisation
• Managing the finances of a competent older person without their permission
• Pressuring an older person for a gift or a loan or for earlier inheritance
• Incurring bills for which an older person is responsible (DHS 2009, pp. 12–13)

Signs of financial abuse include:

• Promises of ‘good care’ in exchange for transferring property or money from bank accounts to the carer
• Fear, stress and anxiety expressed by an older person
• Unfamiliar or new signatures on cheques and documents
• The older person cannot access their bank accounts or statements
• Significant withdrawals from accounts
• Transfer of assets where the person may no longer be competent to manage their own financial affairs
• Accounts suddenly switched to another financial institution or branch
• Drastic changes in the types of banking activities, or to a will (DHS 2009, p. 13)

It is not always easy to recognise financial abuse but there are a number of accepted warning signs or ‘red flags’.

The following are reasons to be alert to possible abuse:

1. vulnerability of an older person due to lack of capacity or to conditions such as physical frailty, dependence, social isolation;
2. a trusting relationship with the likely perpetrator;
3. isolation and control of the older person and/or transaction;
4. evidence of undue influence – for example, coercive behaviour by a family member at appointments, or the older person being unable to speak for themselves or appearing confused, withdrawn or fearful;
5. lack of concern for the welfare of the older person – for example, the older person appears unclean or unkempt;
6. no money being available for an aged care bond when there should be sufficient funds;
7. suspicious or dubious transactions or banking activity – for example, drastic changes to wills, or a recent addition of a signature to an account, or a move from in-person banking to ATM withdrawals;
8. secretiveness of the older person;
9. assets change hands during a period of vulnerability – evidenced, for example, by the transfer of a title or by a new found prosperity in the person in control;
10. a new client with a sense of urgency about a proposed transaction.

These factors are based on an 8-point framework developed by Kemp and Mosqueda 2005, pp. 1123–27.