Pensioners defrauded by own sons and daughters.

[mart]

Elderly Britons are defrauded of millions of pounds every year and the majority of culprits are their own sons and daughters, a charity has warned today. Property and cash worth more than £24.7million was stolen in the last year alone, including houses sold without consent or given away under pressure or blackmail. The charity Action on Elder Abuse revealed today it had seen a 150 per cent increase in reports of financial abuse to its helpline in the last year.

 

Of the cases it had seen, 74 per cent of theft, fraud and deception that took place in the home was committed by the victim's own family. As many as 51 per cent of cases were perpetrated by sons and daughters, who are usually middle-aged, it said.

 

The majority of victims were women aged over 75, with 34 per cent over 85. Six victims were over 100 and the oldest was aged 103 years. The charity revealed the particulars of just some of the harrowing cases it had seen in the past year. For example the case of a grandmother left homeless by her grandson who bought her home at half its value because she was no longer able to keep up with the mortgage. She sold the house on the verbal understanding that she could stay there for life – but she was soon forced out with nowhere to live.

 

They also heard from a mother whose son had made unauthorised ATM withdrawals from her account. He also persuaded his mother to sign an expensive phone contract and other agreements such as a car loan of £16,000. Although the mother is pressing for repayments, her son does not have the money to pay her back. A third culprit was a daughter who obtained Power of Attorney for her parents who were moved into a care home. When the mother died the daughter sold the parents' house for £300,000. The father has now been left with just £30,000 as the daughter also received his pension, which is just £3,000 a year.

 

The charity is calling on government to give adult protection the same legal status as child protection.

 

It is also urging banks and building societies to put in place strategies to protect older customers and local authorities to make financial abuse a high priority on their adult protection agenda. AEA chief executive Gary FitzGerald said: 'It may seem inconceivable to most of us that families, sons or daughters, could stoop to such appalling depths but this is the reality.

 

This is the generation that lived through the war and suffered hardship to bring up their families and it beggars belief that they can be treated so callously by their own families. 'Sadly however, it is a truth we all need to accept, not least older people themselves. Often they are embarrassed or ashamed at what their children have done and think it unique. They need to know that is not the case and that they can speak out.'

[Mister M]

It is awful. This story chimed with me, as I remember reading a headline that more and more grown up children are living with their parents - so potentially there are lots of cases like this. Abuse whether it be financial or otherwise needs to be stamped out.

[Anna B]

Not nice I agree, but then greed, money, and its importance, seems to have become the common denominator in all that is wrong with the world, and has infected just about every part of society.

 

Let's face it, get robbed by your children, or be put in a home and get robbed by the government. Either way not much to look forward to....

[Bonzo77]

I used to think money was everything. It's not. While money can relieve some stresses, it certainly doesn't buy you happiness. Having a reason to get out of bed makes me happy. Using money to help others is far more rewarding than watching your bank balance grow.