Preventing elder fraud, advice from Steve Sexton

“Winning In Life” radio show airs every Sunday morning at 9:00 on KBCQ 1170 AM. The show is hosted by the Entertainer’s very own financial expert, Steve Sexton. Steve is President of Sexton Advisory Group and Director of the Financial Knowledge Institute. Not only does he provide his listeners with the best advice in financial planning, but he also introduces guest speakers from time to time to talk about other popular life topics such as health, charity, traveling, and much more.

To introduce this week’s topic of discussion, Steve tells us about Sherry and her dad from Carlsbad. Sherry’s dad is an older man who recently fell into a scam when a stranger, who pretended to be a family member, called their house and convinced Sherry’s dad to wire him money. Steve emphasizes that every single day people are getting scammed and it is very important, especially for older people, to be aware of the ways that people try to scam you.

Loan modification scammers, for example, are people that offer financial assistance to older people and usually end up taking all of their money at no benefit to the elders. Power of attorney scams are also very common. Many times elders are tricked by someone they trust into letting them control all their finances, which usually results in desperate relatives taking advantage of their power and draining the accounts.

In order to combat these scams, Steve tells his listeners the different ways to prevent elder fraud. One way is to make a policy not to buy or contribute to anything from solicitors. Always ask them to send you something in the mail or email. Usually real charities will have no trouble doing so and fake charities will.

Second, remember to shred all documents with credit card numbers and other important information. Sometimes credit card companies will send you blank checks to get a cash advance. People will often throw away the document carelessly, allowing people to find it in the dump and fill it out to get money.

Another important thing to remember is to never write a financial advisor’s name on a check. With any financial transaction, it is important to write the company’s name and list the FBO (for the benefit of, your name).

Steve goes into more detail about other ways to prevent elder fraud, how to keep your money from falling through the cracks, and more. You don’t want to miss this very important discussion. Listen to the entire show here: www.winninginliferadio.com

Steve wants to remind us that October is charity month! Contact Steve at (800) 560-2611 and tell him about your charity!