Community
Q&A: Financial counselor Stephen Benton warns of scams targeting seniors As a financial counselor for Elder Financial Safety Center, Stephen Benton aims to raise aware- ness on how seniors can avoid being scammed. In 2014, the EFSC was formed—a collaboration of the Dallas County Probate Courts, Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and The Senior Source, a nonprofit social services agency—to address the financial exploitation of seniors. Benton gives educational seminars discussing senior scams throughout the year. Email him at sbenton@theseniorsource.org to learn more about these presentations. Benton spoke with Community Impact and explained prevalent senior-targeted scams, how to identify them and tips on avoiding being scammed through an email response.
What services does the Elder Financial Safety Center provide? Elder Financial Safety Center provides a three- pronged approach, offering financial safety to seniors through prevention at The Senior Source, protection through Dallas County Probate Courts and prosecution through Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. Seventy percent of all the personal wealth in this country is owned by baby boomers and above. The youngest boomer is now 60 this year, so that 60+ have the money. Seniors begin experiencing cognitive difficulties ... [They] struggle keeping up with the rapidly advancing technology and the scammer techniques continue to get more and more sophisticated. More people live alone today than ever before, attempting to age in place. Through the computer, they are opening portals into their home and interacting with persons who
they would not let in their front door. What scams should seniors look out for?
• Romance scam: They always have a reason they can’t meet in person or use Skype or Facetime.
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