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Report: Older Mainers Exploited More by Family Members

Report: Older Mainers Exploited More by Family Members

Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio


BANGOR, Maine (AP) A new report says older Mainers lost more money to exploitation by their family members than from scams.

The report released by Legal Services for the Elderly and Maine’s Office of Aging and Disability Services found that Maine seniors lost $28 million to financial exploitation between 2010 and 2016.

The Bangor Daily News reports the analysis by the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service indicates that in more than 60 percent of reported abuse cases, the perpetrator was the victim’s adult child. The victims were likely to be women 80 or older.

The report analyzed more than 600 cases.

Jaye Martin from Legal Services for the Elderly is urging more funding for legal service providers, police and prosecutors to target financial exploitation of Maine’s elderly.

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