Marin’s Financial Abuse Specialist Team has found that romance scams are particularly prevalent in online fraud.
at retirement homes, Rotary clubs and wherever people congregate. They explain current scams, tell people how to avoid them and give tips. The second part is doing forensic accounting and examining documents in cases referred to them by law enforcement or APS. Vanderscoff explains that it’s a valuable service, because the volunteers have the professional expertise to spot what’s suspicious, determine how much money is missing and find the accounts the funds went to. Team members then work with law enforcement to get subpoenas for those accounts, allowing them to create a full financial picture and confirm fraudulent activity. The goal is to compile sufficient evidence for law enforcement or APS to refer a case to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution. It then falls under the purview of the Elder Abuse Program, a multidisciplinary team made up of prosecutors, law enforcement and public sector agencies dedicated to Elder fraud red flags The Marin County Financial Specialist Team suggests being on the lookout for the following signs of elder fraud: n Isolating the elder by limiting contact with friends and other family members. n The exercise of excessive control or sway over an elder. n Sudden changes in the elder's banking practice. n Abrupt changes in a will or financial documents. n Unexplained disappearance of valuable possessions. n Substandard care being provided or bills going unpaid, despite adequate financial resources. n Statements by the elder about suspected financial exploitation.
The FAST track Fraud against elders is becoming more sophisticated, and finding and preventing it has become a priority for district attorney’s offices and social services agencies. Mark Vanderscoff is Marin County public guardian and chairman of FAST—Financial Abuse Specialist Team. He works with Adult Protective Services (APS), which responds to allegations of elder abuse, 40% of which are financial. He finds that online fraud is prevalent, and romance scams are common. In many cases, a perpetrator establishes email communication, gets the victim to trust him or her and then asks for money. Almost a third of Marin’s population is older adults, and he observes that as people get older, they are often more isolated and get lonely, putting them at risk for scams. They also tend to be trusting, so if they’re using a computer and receive a message from a hacker telling them the computer has been compromised, they think they should respond immediately. Thus, they click on a link that takes them to a site where they are tricked into revealing personal information or sending money, usually with no chance of recovery. FAST is a mixture
of public-sector employees and a group of 20
volunteers—mostly retired professionals who have worked in banking, law or real estate—and they have a two- fold mission. “One is to educate the public [as a way] to cut down on scams,” Vanderscoff says, and team members go into the community to give presentations
Mark Vanderscoff, chair of FAST
30 NorthBaybiz
February 2025
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