May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, which honors the rich cultures, histories, and contributions of AANHPI communities across the U.S.  

In a previous blog post, we addressed some of the harmful assumptions and stereotypes that AANHPI communities often experience due to the myth of the model minority. This myth often assumes that Asian Americans are financially successful, resulting in a lack of resources and support for AANHPI communities who may need it. In reality, the AANHPI community is massively diverse and has the largest wage gap of any major racial group in the U.S.  with Asian Americans in the top 10th percentile earning over ten times as much as those in the bottom 10th percentile. One of the financial challenges that AANHPI communities face is the financial exploitation and fraud experienced by elders.  

According to The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), financial mistreatment is one of the most frequently reported types of harm experienced by elder Asian Americans with 18% of respondents reporting this type of mistreatment. Additionally, AARP reported that AANHPI individuals were overly confident in their ability to spot a scam with 73% of AANHPI people over 50 saying they felt confident they could identify fraud, but only 29% of them passing AARP’s fraudulent offer knowledge quiz.  

In this blog post, we will explore what elder financial exploitation can look like, the unique challenges faced by AANHPI elders, red flags to be aware of, and tips for preventing elder fraud and financial exploitation. 

What is elder financial exploitation and fraud? 

Elder financial exploitation, also known as financial abuse or financial mistreatment, is the illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property, or assets for the benefit of someone else. This can include unauthorized check cashing, forging signatures, misuse of power of attorney, coercion or deception into signing documents or making decisions against their will, and theft by family members or caregivers.  

Elders are often targeted at a higher rate for financial exploitation because they are a more vulnerable population, who often rely more on others for support. 

In this post, we will also be discussing the impact of fraud on AANHPI elders. The difference between fraud and financial exploitation is that fraud typically comes from strangers who use deception or misrepresentation for financial gain, while financial abuse is usually perpetrated by someone who knows the victim personally. 

Why are AANHPI elders at risk? 

While anyone can become a victim of financial abuse and fraud, there are certain factors that can make some populations more likely targets than others. Here are a few reasons why AANHPI elders can be more at risk of these types of financial deception: 

1. English proficiency: While there are many AANHPI folks who are perfectly proficient in speaking/understanding English, AAPI Data reports that Asian Americans are the only racial group that is majority foreign-born, with two-thirds of Asian Americans (65%) being born outside the U.S. This means that English is likely a second language for many, which could make it easier to misinterpret documents, emails, and phone calls that could be used to perpetuate many types of exploitation and fraud.  

2. Unfamiliarity with the U.S. financial system: Many immigrants are also not familiar with the complexities of the U.S. financial system (many American-born citizens struggle with this too!). This means that if someone calls them pretending to be the IRS or some other official financial organization, they may be less aware of how to identify false information or suspicious requests. 

3. Reliance on family members: Many AANHPI cultures often have a strong sense of familial support, where younger generations are expected to help and care for older generations – this is also known as filial piety. While this can be a wonderful example of community care, it can create a sense of reliance and an imbalanced power dynamic, especially if you factor in language barriers and an unfamiliarity with U.S. financial systems. There are family members who may be entrusted to do a wide range of financial tasks for their elders. Hopefully, most people can make conscious choices about who to trust, but some people aren’t given much of a choice of who to rely on if family is limited or they’re struggling to understand a confusing system. 

4. Hesitancy to report or seek help: On the topic of trust, historical trauma has often left AANHPI with a lack of trust in many government institutions, which means they are less likely to report potential crimes. There are also some AANHPI cultures that value privacy and tend not to share personal problems or challenges, which results in underreporting and therefore a lack of awareness, support, and prosecution for perpetrators. According to AARP’s survey,  one in three elder AANHPI victims of fraud did NOT tell anyone (including friends and family) about the fraud they experienced or how it affected them. 

5. Lack of resources – As we mentioned previously, the model minority myth has done a disservice to AANHPI communities because it perpetuates the idea that these communities don’t need as much help or assistance. This has resulted in a lack of available research and resources available to directly support these communities. The AANHPI community is also extremely diverse with a wide range of cultures and languages being represented. Materials and communications available in Asian languages are already more challenging to come by, and many of the communities who may need the most support are probably the least likely to find resources available in their native language – According to AAPI Data, the highest proportion of foreign-born Asian Americans tend to be smaller populations like Malaysian, Bhutanese, and Nepalese residents. 

Identifying & preventing fraud 

Fraud is rampant and becoming more and more prevalent, especially with the use of AI. Research has consistently found that older adults are more likely to be targets of fraud than younger adults, so it’s important for the elderly AANHPI community to be aware of the type of scams out there and know what signs to look for. According to AARP, here are the most common types of scams within the AANHPI community: 

1. Foreign lottery winnings – Consumers are contacted about money or prizes they have won in foreign lotteries. They are often told that to collect the prize, they need to provide financial or personal information, deposit a check, or wire money to cover fees. 

2. Requests for charitable donations – Fake websites, social media accounts, or communications soliciting urgent donations for various causes. They are common after high-profile disasters. 

3. Tech support for computer virus removal – Fake virus alerts are used to make people think that they have a computer virus that needs to be removed, and they are tricked into paying for a fake antivirus service or virus removal product. 

4. Collection of IRS back taxes – People are contacted with false claims that they owe back taxes or that there is some kind of issue with their tax return. The scammers will often threaten their targets with legal action if they don't get paid quickly. 

5. Phishing – An online scam where attackers impersonate trusted organizations and entities to steal personal information, like passwords and bank details. 

Creating awareness of common scams and how they might show up is an important first step. Now that you know how common scams are likely to be presented, here are our five steps for common sense fraud protection: 

1. Scrutinize incoming calls, emails, texts, and social media messages – scammers are good at mimicking your financial institution, a charitable organization, the government and even your own relatives. They know how to make it look like they are calling or contacting you from a local number or trusted source. Scrutinize and verify: if you have any doubts about the caller or sender, double check with them in a separate message or phone call initiated by you.   

2. Never share any sensitive information with anyone outside the normal secure sites, apps and phone numbers you use to reach out to your financial institution, like Self-Help. This includes your personal information, password, username or email that you use to login. Reputable companies will not contact you and ask for this information over the telephone or by text or email.   

3. Never open attachments or click links in messages unless you are 100% certain you know who is asking. Scammers can make their links look very authentic, but clicking a scammer’s link can install malicious software on your computer that gives the sender access to your information and your device. If you aren’t sure, verify by calling or going directly to the website on your own without clicking a link.  

4. Beware of urgency – be suspicious when you get a request to do something immediately. That’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. The scammer doesn’t want you to take time to consider their request.  

5. Check and confirm the authenticity of the contact you have received – for example, if you receive communications that appear to be from Self-Help, connect with our contact center or your local branch by dialing manually. You won’t regret taking this extra precaution.  

Scammers will either tap into fear (like threatening legal action for not paying an amount owed) or reward (like lottery winnings), usually both with a sense of urgency. Remember: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. 

Identifying & preventing financial exploitation 

While financial fraud and exploitation both involve financial deception and greatly impact AANHPI older adults, the ways we identify and prevent them can be very different. Because financial exploitation can often be perpetrated by people who are close to the victim, it can be harder to uncover and prevent.  

Understanding what this exploitation might look like is key to preventing further harm. Here are some common red flags if you suspect potential elder financial exploitation: 

• Sudden changes in bank account balances or banking practices 

• Unexplained withdrawals or transfers 

• Missing financial documents  

• Changes in legal documents (e.g., wills or power of attorney) or beneficiaries without clear explanation 

• Isolation from family or community 

• New “friends” or caregivers who seem to be exerting unusual influence 

• Fear or emotional distress 

• Lack of financial knowledge 

• Shared account ownership, especially with unqualified individuals 

• People with mobility issues or cognitive decline are also more susceptible due to the need for increased assistance from whoever is around them 

Now that we know how elder financial exploitation might show up, here are some steps provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to prevent it from happening to you or your loved ones: 

• Plan for diminished capacity: Find resources and have conversations about how you or the elders in your life want to manage their money and property in the event that they become unable to do so for themselves. This may include making a power of attorney or trust. 

  • Power of attorney: a legal document authorizing someone to act as an agent who will make decisions about money and property on someone else’s behalf. This should be someone that is trusted completely by the person obtaining the power of attorney, as this power can be abused in the wrong hands. For extra protection, the agent can be required to provide annual accounting of income and expenses to an outside party, like an attorney or trusted third party. 

• Involve several people: Major financial decisions for elders should be made only after consulting several trusted people, like relatives, attorneys, and financial professionals. When more people are involved, exploitation is less likely to happen. 

• Have any checks directly deposited: This reduces the opportunity for theft. 

• Communicate with the bank or credit union and review statements: Banks and credit unions will often be the first to alert the owner of suspicious financial activity. Just to be safe, you should also be reviewing statements from any financial service providers monthly to make sure nothing looks off. 

• Check your credit reports regularly: This is one of the primary ways that people discover identity theft or accounts that have been fraudulently opened in their name. 

  • Some credit unions, like Self-Help, offer free FICO® credit reviews to members. Find a credit review near you. 

• Check references: Anyone hired to provide care (including relatives) should be thoroughly screened. 

  

• Reduce isolation: It’s tougher for people to commit fraud when others are around, so elders should keep in touch with friends and family members. If you are a loved one who lives far away, don’t be afraid to check in with a vulnerable relative’s friends and neighbors as well, as they may observe things that you aren’t able to. 

• Protect all documents related to identity and financial information: Keep identification documents, financial papers, and other information in a safe and secure place.  

  • When disposing of sensitive documents, make sure to shred them by investing in a small shredder or attending shred events. 

Financial exploitation and fraud remain ever-evolving issues that can be hard to identify, especially with the fast-moving evolution of AI and technology. This AANHPI Heritage Month, we at Self-Help hope our elder AANHPI communities can be better supported in identifying and preventing the issues of financial deception that affect this community.