‘An underlying epidemic’: Elder financial abuse on the rise as population ages

Seniors sit on a bench at a park in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Martin Meissner

As Canada’s population ages, it’s been estimated that over $1.1 trillion in assets is on the move from baby boomers to gen X and millennials as part of “the great wealth transfer.”

Despite many elderly Canadians having carefully arranged inheritance plans in place, seniors’ advocates and financial crime experts are warning they have become increasingly vulnerable to attempts to exploit their money.

Ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Sunday, they said it’s important for Canadians, including both seniors and their loved ones, to educate themselves about these growing risks.

Financial abuse is the most common form of elder abuse in Canada, said Holly Cunliffe, a partner at Aird & Berlis specializing in elder law.

“We have a lot of older adults in our population and so we are definitely seeing an increase in instances of financial abuse affecting our older populations,” said Cunliffe, a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, a professional body comprised of lawyers, accountants and financial advisers.

She and other experts said seniors generally experience financial abuse in two ways. While financial scams are on the rise, including digital fraud attempts specifically targeting older victims, there is also a growing risk of abuse at the hands of a person the senior already knows.

Cunliffe calls the latter form “an underlying epidemic” that too often flies below the radar. It typically involves someone with power of attorney — a legal document that gives them authority to act on a vulnerable person’s behalf — exploiting the designation to their own benefit.

“Unfortunately, that means friends and family can actually be the perpetrators,” she said.

“If those documents are not prepared early enough in time before there’s any potential for diminished capacity or influence, then it is possible that family members ... can seek to have those documents prepared for their own personal gain.”

Even if a trusted loved one has every intent to act appropriately, a lack of understanding of the scope of their role and its limits can inadvertently lead to financial abuse, said Cunliffe.

Bénédicte Schoepflin, executive director of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, said elder financial abuse usually relies on a trusting relationship. Around 81 per cent of reported cases are carried out by a spouse, family member, friend or acquaintance.

Financial mistreatment “doesn’t always happen in a confrontational or violent way,” said Schoepflin, adding: “Sometimes it is really more about the trickery of it all.”

“It can be really difficult to recognize that what is happening is not OK,” she said.

“It can start in a manner that feels like it’s not a big amount or not a big deal, (like), ‘Well, I voluntarily shared my PIN number with my grandson because he was helping me to go get groceries’ and then ... there’s a gradual slide into bigger, more serious forms of abuse.”

Schoepflin said vulnerability also has an intersectional element. The risk of being victimized is higher for woman, seniors who have experienced mistreatment earlier in life, those who identify as a person of colour, along with those living with someone financially dependent on them.

“People choose to stay silent because they do not want to create issues within their own closed circles,” she said.

“The person who is experiencing abuse might not want to be in that situation, but still might also not want to create trouble for the person who is harming them or taking advantage of them, or might not want to upset a family balance.”

Cunliffe said the risk of being exploited is even greater for Canadians with cognitive decline, including those living with diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer’s.

“The older the person is, the greater the risk of cognitive decline, and with that decline comes the risk of an increased vulnerability to financial abuse,” she said.

The other category of financial abuse — incidents in which the perpetrator, such as a scammer, is not known to the victim — is also a growing threat, said Larry Zelvin, head of BMO’s financial crimes unit.

He said technologies such as AI are making scams more sophisticated and harder for older adults to detect. Nowadays, AI-powered tools can be used to generate realistic phishing emails, while deepfake technology can even enable scammers to impersonate family members or trusted advisers.

“Some of them might be less digitally competent ... which also makes them more vulnerable,” said Zelvin.

He added seniors are targeted especially because they have often already accumulated wealth.

“As you get older, unfortunately, you become more isolated,” he said.

“Older folks, especially those who are missing those social interactions, are maybe more trusting in nature than they would have been otherwise.”

He said his advice is that if an out-of-the-blue offer “sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Zelvin also encouraged seniors to come forward if they suspect they’ve been a victim of financial exploitation, noting cases are vastly under-reported to authorities such as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, RCMP or local law enforcement.

While it might seem embarrassing to admit, he said those targeted should feel no different than if they were reporting any other crime, like if their car had been stolen.

“You’ve been a victim. You are not culpable,” he said.

“You’re not just reporting it. You may be preventing other people from having to go through what you went through.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2025.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press