Friendships with Ulterior Motives

Awareness key to fighting elder fraud

September 2009


When three siblings, all senior citizens, showed up at a Utah senior fair back in 2003, one of them scoping out potential insurance policies, Darin. G. Perkins was more than eager to lend a helping hand.

At the time an insurance agent with the New Millennium Insurance Services company, Perkins sold insurance products to one of the siblings, according to the Utah Attorney General’s office. He even tried to ingratiate himself to his new customer, offering to mow the man’s lawn, according to Richard Hamp, an assistant attorney general specializing in identity theft. “It looked like he was trying to build his trust up to get access to financial accounts and financial information,” Hamp told Identity Theft 911. 

Unfortunately, the ploy worked. With access to the man’s personal information, 44-year-old Perkins took out a loan on a home the man had purchased with his brother and sister, and gained access to bank accounts. All said, he stole $263,000, financing a lifestyle that included “two Lexus cars, one Jeep, one Yamaha motorcycle and a Sea-Doo boat, trailer and personal watercraft,” according to the AG. Perkins’s actions affected all three siblings — according to Hamp, the family lived together and pooled its resources — leaving the victims, ages 75, 77 and 78, in dire financial straits.

“These good people befriended me and I took advantage of them,” Perkins was quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune, having pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a three second degree felonies — exploiting a vulnerable adult, communications fraud and identity fraud — punishable of up to 15 years each. He added that there was “no excuse” for what he’d done.


Inexcusable though it may be, targeting senior citizens for identity fraud is unfortunately not uncommon.  There were 27,774 complaints of identity theft filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2008 for people age 60 and over.  However, reliable statistics are hard to come by as crimes often go unreported, or aren’t discovered until long after they are perpetrated, experts say. But those who work with senior citizens and those who prosecute identity theft crimes know that the financial manipulation of seniors is a longstanding and continued problem.

In cases like the one prosecuted by Hamp, criminals gain their victims’ trust in order to commit crimes (for example, caregivers who have stolen their patients’ identities), and senior victims, who may be afraid or ashamed to speak out about being taken advantage of, may refrain from telling people that they’ve been victimized.  In other cases, the victims may not know who has perpetrated the crimes against them.


Experts say that senior citizens are targeted because they often have savings or retirement funds that are ripe for the picking. In some cases, they may also be reliant on others to assist and guide them in personal matters. They’re not always accustomed to basic Internet security measures, and generational differences in attitude may lead them to be freer with information.

“I think that generation of folks grew up in a time where a handshake was just as good as a signature and if someone asked you for your Social Security number you gave it to them,” Hamp says. “Things were a lot simpler and trust was freely earned and given. That works well for today’s con artist.”

In some cases, seniors’ social networks aren’t as broad as those of younger individuals, leaving them more eager for company. “They are looking to develop relationships and just have someone to talk to,” Hamp says. “So the con-man fulfills that role, too.” Unfortunately, senior citizens don’t have “years to recover from a financial setback caused by a con-man, like someone in their thirties,” the assistant AG points out. Which is why identity fraud can be particularly damaging to senior citizens.

The state of Texas recently hiked criminal penalties for cases of forgery, credit and debit card abuse, or fraudulent use of identifying information involving senior victims. But criminal statutes can only go so far. It’s up to consumer to make sure that elderly friends and neighbors are aware of basic financial and personal data safeguards — “they ought not to be giving out personal information, like Social Security numbers,” Hamp says — and that they have trusted associates with whom to check in.

“When you have elderly relatives it’s important that you maintain contact so that they have a social outlet other than one that can be exploited,” he says. “Try to get to know what’s going on in their lives so you can be aware of some pattern of activity that indicates someone taking advantage of them.”


When it comes to thwarting identity thieves, passive resistance is not an option. It's up to seniors and those who care for them to be proactive by taking the following steps:

Be careful with transactions


When dealing with new friends, be wary of those who
If you suspect you've been targeted for financial crime


If you find evidence you've been defrauded