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Fighting elder abuse — both financial and physical — starts with communication. That’s what the head of the Montgomery County, Maryland, state’s attorney’s office unit that investigates and prosecutes crimes dealing with economic loss said.
Getty Images Whether it’s fake online shopping sites, identity theft or scam artists using phone or email, fraud is on the rise, with a record 1.3 million cases in the first nine months of 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Although anyone can become a victim, FTC data show that consumers age 80 and older are far more likely to be scammed by phone and lose the most money, a median of $1,250. “Even if you do everything perfectly, you can still be susceptible to fraud,” says Shameka Walker, a fraud and identity theft program manager for the FTC. By now, you probably kn...