You might be surprised to know that the incidence of elder fraud and abuse in the United States is actually more common than you think.  Because the elderly can often be easily manipulated and taken advantage of they represent a highly targeted group for crime and abuse.

Types of fraud and abuse vary from emotional abuse which can be often undetected to inflicting physical harm on an elderly person.  There are however several things you can do to prevent fraud and abuse for a loved one who has home care services brought into their home.  Those activities include the following:

The first line of defense in preventing elder abuse is having a strong and open communication between you and your loved one.  Check in regularly with him/her about the care they are receiving.  Make it known and clear to the careprovider that you are involved.  Ask to be updated often when conditions change.    Also, some individuals are now installing in home camera monitoring devices to watch the daily activities in the home of their loved one.  You can even monitor activities from your laptop at home.  When monitoring activities it’s important to be aware of signs of abuse.  These signs may include the following:

* Communication shut down by the elder
* Lack of interest by the elder. Lethargy.
* Issues with personal hygiene
* Weight loss/weight gain
* Unexplained and re occurring bruises and injuries
* Dirty House

Prior to hiring an in home caregiver make sure you get a copy of their driver’s license and ask if they are bonded and insured.  There are also many on line background checking companies that could criminal background checks on the individual as well.

In addition to protecting your loved one against emotional and physical abuse it’s also important to protect them financially from fraud.  Some helpful tips are:

* Keep a safe in the house for personal records and valuables.
* Make sure mail is only collected by someone you trust or set up a P.O. Box that only you can access if you are within driving distance of the elder.
* Check Bills for spikes in charges.
* Set up fraud protection/flags with the banks and credit cards your elder uses to flag unusual charges.