Best Ways to Combat Annuity Fraud – Avoiding Senior Financial Scams

Senior financial scams like annuity fraud are a growing problem in the elderly community.

Annuity fraud lawsuits are being filed daily throughout the United States. As the baby boomers continue to retire, the senior population continues to rise throughout the nation, meaning more opportunities for certain types of exploitation. Many legal experts believe that these exploiters target the senior and retiring community because they are often uncertain about how to invest their savings.

This exploitation leads to a variety of issues such as elder abuse and financial fraud. Some of the most common adversities that the elderly and retiring community face are from annuity scams, and even scheming loved ones. Any elderly senior or retired citizen is advised to seek legal consultation if they experienced any of the following problems.

Elder Abuse

The first and most common aspect of annuity fraud is elder abuse. Financial abuse typically occurs when the elder’s savings or financial assets are targeted, which leaves them vulnerable when they need those funds for an emergency.

Elders who come down with mental diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s are the most frequently exploited, as they typically lack the ability to track the funds themselves. Family members may use this to their advantage, and use the funds for their own unauthorized purposes.

In addition, annuity agents make large commission sales by targeting the elderly community and manipulating them into purchasing annuity packages that are unsuitable to their needs.

Living Trust Mills

An unfortunate new scam has arisen in the last few years as part of the growing popularity of estate planning, which is called “Living Trust Mills.”  These are another form of annuity scam, in which a sales agent convinces the elderly client to move all their investments and money to an annuity from which the sales agent generates a commission.

These scams are often started when seniors are invited to free seminars or similar sales presentations, where these sales agents will pose as estate planners or financial experts. After gaining the elder’s trust, these agents will later schedule visits to the person’s home to gather information about the senior’s assets, investments, and other financial information. Oftentimes, the sales agent will scare the elder into transferring their finances into an annuity by stating that the senior’s investments are either unsafe or under-performing.

Several warning signs of this scam include:

• The sales agent claims to be a trust expert and refers to him/herself as a trust adviser, senior estate planner, or paralegal.
• The seminars are held in assisted living centers, retirement communities, churches, and other places where seniors gather.
• The sales agent uses the guise of setting up or updating an existing living trust in order to access the senior’s financial information.

Seniors can protect themselves from these scams in a variety of ways. First and foremost, these agents must provide 24 hours’ notice. During the presentation, the senior will always have right to an attorney and the right to end the presentation at any time. Further, the adviser must state in writing that the elder is not obligated to actually buy anything from the presentation.

Senior Tips

Elderly citizens, recently retired baby boomers, or any other citizens considering purchasing a new or replacement annuity are advised to do the following:

• Obtain all proposals in writing
• Take enough time to review the information before making any decisions about the product
• Do not sign anything that cannot be understood
• Have a trusted family member, friend or legal counsel involved in discussing the purchase of the product
• Make sure the agent, broker and insurance company are properly licensed
• Obtain full disclosure of all information regarding the product, including all benefits and possible negative consequence
• Obtain a full disclosure of all surrender charges and related time frames in regarding the product prior to its purchase

File an Annuity Fraud Lawsuit Today

If you believe that you or a loved one have been the victim of an annuity scam, you have legal options. Please visit the Life Insurance, Annuities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can submit your claim for a free legal review and if it qualifies for legal action, a seasoned Annuity lawyer will contact you for a free, no-obligation consultation. You will be guided through the litigation process at no out-of-pocket expenses or hidden fees. The annuity attorneys working this investigation do not get paid until you do.