How to Keep a Loved One With Cognitive Decline Safe From Scams

That said, “absolutely,” one of the first signs of cognitive decline is a change in financial behavior, notes Sarah Lock, AARP’s senior vice president for policy and brain health. “You may notice that the person who’s been meticulous in their financial affairs suddenly becomes less so.”

An analysis of more than 81,000 Medicare beneficiaries’ health data found that people who were later diagnosed with dementia were more likely to experience drops in their credit scores and miss bill payments than those who weren’t. Problems began as early as 6 years before the diagnosis, according to a 2020 Johns Hopkins University study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

And a 2016 study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that older adults with mild cognitive impairment are more susceptible to scams, particularly when they displayed slower processing speed and lower short-term memory. Co-author Duke Han, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and family medicine at the University of Southern California, explains in an email that if an older adult is cognitively slower, they “may have difficulty keeping track in a high time-pressure situation.” With memory issues, they “may be more easily led to misremember events or facts. These cognitive difficulties can reflect brain changes that make it more difficult for an older adult to discern a scam from a legitimate situation.”

Ian Bednowitz, general manager for identity and privacy at Gen Digital, maker of Norton and LifeLock identity theft protection, among other products, also saw his late mother become a fraud victim when she had cognitive decline. In 2015, her paid caregiver stole her personal information, including her Social Security number, as well as balance transfer checks from her mail. The caregiver wrote the checks to herself, which meant she took out a fraudulent loan for thousands of dollars against his mother’s credit card limit. The unusual charges led him to check her credit report, and “my heart just sank, because there were all kinds of loans and credit cards and things in her name that she had nothing to do with, with high balances on them. It was tens of thousands of dollars.” (Authorities did eventually catch the criminal, whom he says was part of a crime syndicate that preyed on vulnerable older people.)

Bednowitz says he wishes he’d been aware of the different steps he could have taken that may have helped prevent the crime.

Where to begin

If you’re concerned, it’s crucial to “start to talk about money, start to talk about scams,” says Darius Kingsley, head of consumer banking practices at Chase. “That sounds obvious, but a lot of older Americans — that’s a generational thing — don’t want to talk about money. So you’ve got to explain the threat [of scams] and tell them you want to help keep them safe. You’re not trying to be intrusive. You’re not trying to be condescending.” (See below for the scam-prevention basics that you can emphasize.)

Some older adults who are accustomed to independence may resist their adult child becoming involved in their financial affairs. “My mom was very stubborn,” says Bednowitz. “She hated me taking care of anything for her.” But if he approached her carefully — suggesting he pay her bills without having control of her account, for example — “she was OK being helped. I think it has to feel like help and not control.”

How intrusive you need to be will depend on your parents’ level of cognitive decline. In an ideal world, they would have designated someone they trust — maybe their child — to serve as their financial advocate under a power of attorney before they become unable to make financial decisions. For that to happen, though, “the parent has to really trust you as the individual,” says Bednowitz, who notes the sad fact that when elder theft is perpetrated by someone the victim knows, it’s most often a family member.

More ways to protect a loved one with (or without) cognitive decline from fraud

“We hear from our customers all the time where [they] were on the road to being scammed, and they caught it within the family,” says Kingsley. “Very often that’s because the adult child has been proactive.”

Secure all personal documents in the home. To avoid fraud perpetrated through stolen documents, as Bednowitz’s mom experienced, make sure sensitive information — tax returns, passports, bank statements — is out of sight, whether it’s in a physical safe or only accessible online. Bednowitz says he began redirecting his mother’s mail to a paid service that scans and digitizes it for him to view online, “so it would come out of the hands of the caregivers.” (She had access to it as well.)

Set up “unusual activity” alerts on your loved one’s financial accounts. Different banks offer different account activity alerts that allow account holders to receive texts, emails, or mobile push notifications for large withdrawals and other activity. It’s a good idea to sign up for all available alerts, which you can do by logging in to your account online or through the bank’s app.

Ask if you can receive copies of their bank statements. Lock says that when her father was experiencing cognitive decline, she arranged to have a second set of financial statements sent to her, “so I could watch the patterns of your accounts to see if anything unusual was happening.”

Consider using a service that can identify potential fraud. You can help your loved one subscribe to services like Aura, Identity Guard, and Lifelock by Norton that alert you to potential identity theft, such as someone applying for a credit card or loan in your name. AARP members can receive a discount on some Norton identity theft protection products.

Ask to be your loved one’s trusted contact. You can be added as a “trusted contact” at their financial firm (they may have already added you when they opened the account). You won’t be able to access the money, but it allows the financial institution to alert you if they notice suspicious activity.

Help them freeze their credit report. A freeze prevents anyone from opening a credit account in their name; they can quickly unfreeze it if they do need someone to access it — to get a loan approved, for instance.

Set up robocall blocking and SMS blocking. Scammers often try to reach potential victims through illegal robocalls (some robocalls are legal, but only for informational or noncommercial purposes). Your phone service provider may offer free robocall-blocking tools. The website of CTIA, a Washington-based trade association that represents the U.S. wireless industry, has lists of apps for Android and Apple devices that block robocalls and spam texts.

Share scam-prevention basics. Tell your loved one about these keys to avoiding fraud — rules that everyone should keep in mind.

1. Be very wary of all unsolicited communications. Don’t answer calls or texts from unknown numbers. “I tell my own parents, ‘Be inherently suspicious of phone calls or random texts,’” says Kingsley. “You’ve got to train them to get their guard up — don’t assume that if someone is contacting them it’s legit.”

2. Keep your personal/sensitive information private. If someone wants your bank account details or Social Security number, think twice. Make sure your social media accounts are private, and don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know.

3. Talk to someone you trust if something seems off. It’s important for people to have a go-to person who can be a sounding board — whether it’s you or a friend or neighbor, says Kingsley. He suggests telling a loved one, “Before you panic, before you give out personal information or bank account details, talk to me about it or talk to your trusted circle, and say, ‘Hey, does this seem right? Does it seem legit?’” And if the person who contacted you says not to talk to anyone about your interaction? That’s a huge red flag that you’re dealing with a scammer and should tell someone.