Older adults with the highest levels of depression and the lowest levels of social needs fulfillment experience higher levels of fraud, according to a new study from Wayne State University and the Illinois Institute of Technology. The schools advise clinical gerontologists in the field to be aware of older adults' needs for assessment of financial exploitation or its potential when working with highly vulnerable individuals. Financial exploitation of the elderly is on the rise according to the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and the numbers are expected to continue to grow as Baby Boomers age. This exploitation, which includes telemarketing scams, fake home repairs, fake check scams, identity theft and more, costs approximately $3 billion each year. The study, "Is Psychological Vulnerability Related to the Experience of Fraud in Older Adults?" published in the recent issue of Clinical Gerontologist, is the first study to include prospective predictors of reported financial fraud victimization of older adults, and is the first to review financial exploitation of any kind with the same population from a psychological-vulnerability perspective. "This study illustrates how we can enhance our understanding of this major issue by performing a clinical analysis instead of one that stops at epidemiological or broad population-based reviews," said Peter Lichtenberg, director of WSU's Institute of Gerontology and lead author of the paper. "Those in the clinical study showed characteristics of extreme depression symptoms and perceived low social-status fulfillment, thus showing they were more vulnerable to the experience of theft of scams.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/04/25/wayne-state-finds-psychologically-vulnerable-more-vulnerable-to-fraudsters/
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-psychological-vulnerable-older-adults-susceptible.html
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130426/Financial-exploitation-of-the-elderly-is-on-the-rise-shows-research.aspx
http://www.examiner.com/article/financial-abuse-scams-directed-at-vulnerable-and-socially-isolated-older-adults