Older Americans Robbed of $20 Billion a Year by People They Know

Financial exploitation costs older Americans $28.3 billion annually, with nearly three-quarters of that stolen by people the victim knows, such as family, friends or caregivers, according to a new report released Thursday.

Quantifying the cost of elder financial exploitation — defined as “the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets” by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — is a challenge. That’s partly because so much of it goes unreported, according to the study from AARP, done with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

In an estimated 88% of cases where the person knows the individual exploiting them, the ...