As we age, financial risks typically increase. When a person is no longer working, their ability to replace losses by earning more money is limited. Healthcare becomes more expensive. And, many scams specifically target seniors and their assets.
What should you look for when determining if spending is too risky or is in the best interest of the person? Although each person has unique needs and desires, some of the red flags you can look for to identify suspicious activity include:
1. Transactions in different geographic locations. Many bank accounts and credit cards track locations of purchases, and these locations can be used to determine is spending is outside a person's area.
2. Irregular spending that differs from past history. Most of tend to be creatures of habit, and that means irregular spending can be a sign that something is different.
3. Too many purchases ending in even numbers such as $50.00. Checks, ATMs, and other types of risk payment methods often result in even numbers at the end of a transaction. These types of transactions are worth an extra look.
4. Purchases of gift cards, which are often transferred to criminals as part of a scam. One of the ways that criminals try to get your money is by requesting payment in gift cards. No legitimate companies as to be paid via gift card.
5. Inappropriate spending for a person's life situation. If you start to see things that don't add up, like two cable bills for one person, that is something to be addressed.
If you would like assistance screening for risky financial transactions, Guide Change can help with a personalized financial care report.