Fraud, scams, and abuse causing financial harm

What is it?

Financial fraud, scams, and other forms of abuse are increasingly preying on people with disabilities, diverse backgrounds and intersectional identities. These schemes abuse people’s already vulnerable situations and can be a significant challenge to recover from. This page describes some of the issues related to this growing problem.

Articles

This Articles section includes research papers, news articles, and other information published on the Internet.

• “Economic Abuse and Disability” by Dr. Selena Rathwell / The Canadian Center For Women’s Empowerment. This article raises awareness of economic abuse that women with disabilities may experience, and the barriers they may experience in exiting an abusive situation.

• “FRAUD: Latest Scams Targeting People with Disabilities” by Neighbors Federal Credit Union. An article published by a credit union that outlines common scams that people with disabilities can often fall victim to.

• “The Financial Abuse of Mentally Incompetent Older Adults: A Canadian Study” by Bond, John B. ; Cuddy, Rosemarie ; Dixon, Gloria L. ; Duncan, Karen A. ; Smith, Doreen L. / Taylor & Francis. This article reports the results of a pilot study on the financial abuse of mentally incompetent seniors. The findings emphasize the financial vulnerability of this population and the authors present a list of indicators of financial abuse that are of potential use to professionals, discuss practical implications for service providers, and recommend devising prevention programs.

• “Financial Security and Financial Abuse Prevention Among Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities” by Virginie Cobigo and Golnaz Ghaderi / Open Collaboration for Cognitive Accessibility and University of Ottawa. Report on financial abuse among people with cognitive disabilities. The report explores the reason why this group can experience heightened abuse, and implications for practice and policy.

• “Elder Fraud and Financial Exploitation: Application of Routine Activity Theory“ by Marguerite DeLiema / The Gerontological Society of America, Oxford University Press. The paper provides insights into the differences between fraud and financial exploitation of older adults. The research found that fraud most often occurred when a vulnerable elder was solicited by a financial predator in the absence of capable guardians. Prevention efforts should focus on reducing social isolation to enhance protection.

• “Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in an Aging America“ by Richard J. Bonnie and Robert B. Wallace / National Research Council of the National Academies. Provides information about financial abuse of the elderly in domestic settings by individuals who are relatively well known to the victim. It also finds that those with cognitive impairments, such as Alzheimer’s, may be at higher risk for financial abuse. It is suggested that healthcare practitioners warn patients and family members bout potential abuse and provide practical suggestions on how to avoid such abuse.

• “Young people with SEND are more at risk of financial scams, experts warn“ by India Dunkley / SEND Network. Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are more vulnerable to financial scams online. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in financial scams targeted at young people, and that those with SEND may be at greater risk due to a lack of understanding around what is happening. Parents, guardians, and educators are encouraged to increase their knowledge of online harms to reduce the risk of scams for vulnerable children.

• “Mild Cognitive Impairment and Susceptibility to Scams in Old Age“ by S. Duke Han, Patricia A. Boyle, Bryan D. James, Lei Yu, and David A. Bennett / Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The study found that Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is associated with a greater susceptibility to scams. The study also provides insights into the types of scams that target older adults and offers recommendations for avoiding them. However, the article does not provide information on specific interventions or strategies to protect older adults with MCI from scams.

• “Consumer Experience of Mistreatment and Fraud in Financial Services: Implications from an Integrative Consumer Vulnerability Framework“ by H. Lim and J. C. Letkiewicz / Journal of Consumer Policy. Some of the key findings from this study include that younger, lower-income, and less-educated consumers are more likely to experience mistreatment and fraud in financial services. Additionally, consumers who have experienced mistreatment or fraud in financial services are more likely to report lower levels of financial well-being. The study suggests that there is a need for consumer policy agencies to focus on improving consumer protection for vulnerable consumers in financial services.

• “Vulnerability and Fraud: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic“ by Yun Zhang, Qun Wu, Ting Zhang & Lingxiao Yang / Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. The study looks at consumer fraud and found that scammers have taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to exploit victims who were already vulnerable and suffering. The increase in scams can be attributed to an increase in the victims’ vulnerability and motivation to report scams. However, an improvement ins financial literacy is still associated with reduction of finance-related fraud and scams.

Experiences

This Experiences section includes stories, perspectives, and experiences submitted by people experiencing disabilities or is Deaf. Where necessary, personal information have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

• An elderly woman, with disabilities, was conned by her taxi driver over a nine month period. The taxi driver was sentenced to three and half years in jail. However the woman has been left humiliated and angry. While she has since been reimbursed about 70% of her loses by the Nationwide Building Society, she did have to rely on food banks groceries and a local emergency found for cash.

Other issues being raised or addressed

• This section is work in progress

External groups

The External Groups section contains links to organizations or individuals who are working, advocating, or innovating in this space. The parties mentioned in this list are not endorsed by the IDRC.

• There is nothing in this list currently.

Contribute to this topic

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