IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. THAT’S THE ADVICE Mark Gallegos, CPA, MST, tax partner at Porte Brown LLC, gives his elderly clients when they receive a suspicious email, text, or phone call demanding money or personal information from them. “If something doesn’t seem right, I advise my clients to just pick up the phone and call me, to not even hesitate,” Gallegos says. While no one is immune from financial fraud, elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center’s (IC3’s) 2024 Elder Fraud Report, people ages 60 and over lost a combined $4.885 billion to fraud in 2024—a 43% increase in losses from 2023—with the average loss per victim of $83,000. More than 147,000 individuals age 60-plus filed complaints with IC3 in 2024, an increase of 46% from 2023. As noted in IC3’s report, older adults are disproportionately targeted and lose more money in scams than their younger counterparts, in part because they usually have more assets. Other factors that are unique and specific to the aging population also make these individuals more susceptible to fraud. For example, some aging clients may be unaware of the latest scams, are generally less suspicious of fraudulent activities, may be more isolated from regular social interaction, and/or may have to manage cognitive decline impairments. Not surprisingly, these vulnerabilities require extra vigilance and proactive measures from the people closest to them—and in some cases, that person is their CPA. Here, three CPAs offer guidance and best practices for how other practitioners can best protect their aging clients and serve as their first line of defense. ENCOURAGE OPEN COMMUNICATION A CPA’s first move should be to encourage their aging clients to speak up and contact them directly when something appears suspicious, Gallegos emphasizes. He recalls a time when one of HOW CPAs CAN PROTECT THEIR AGING CLIENTS BY CHRIS CAMARA Each year, millions of aging Americans fall victim to some type of financial fraud scheme. Here’s how CPAs can play a vital role in serving as their first line of defense. 12 Nebraska CPA
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