Financial Elder Abuse: How to Spot It and What the Penalties Are

In 2025, people over 60 reported $7.748 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), up 59% from 2024. In Georgia, 4,865 of them lost $218.2 million.

And that’s only internet fraud. When money slips away through a son with the debit card or a nursing home employee, usually no one tells the FBI, and the older person may not notice for a long time. What follows covers the warning signs and the penalties under Georgia law.

Who Takes the Money

In the year ending June 2023, financial institutions filed 155,415 reports with FinCEN on suspicious activity involving older customers, totaling roughly $27 billion. About 80% involved a scammer the victim had never met. In the rest, someone the person trusted took the money, most often an adult child.

Nursing homes put many hands near a resident’s money: a relative acting as a representative payee for benefits, a business office running a personal account and aides who help with shopping. Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 31-8-115) requires every payment meant for a resident to go toward that person’s needs, no matter who collects it. If cash or belongings still disappear, the facility itself can be liable in a civil suit (more on these cases in Atlanta: https://www.kermanillp.com/atlanta/nursing-home-abuse-attorneys). At Parkview Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, also in Atlanta, a patient account clerk took residents’ petty cash in 2009 and 2010. In 2013 she got five years of probation and had to repay $4,008.

Red Flags to Watch For

Strangers call posing as “the bank” or a grandchild in trouble and demand gift cards, cash fed into a crypto ATM, or a fast transfer into a “guaranteed” investment. People close to the victim move more slowly, and the clues show up in finances and paperwork:

• Unpaid bills despite enough money in the account
• Forged checks or card withdrawals the person doesn’t remember
• Social Security or pension deposits suddenly going to another account
• A new “friend,” helper, or caregiver who hides the statements and decides how much the person can spend
• Missing cash or belongings in a nursing home, unexplained charges, or no quarterly statement for the resident’s account
• A rewritten will, insurance policy, or house deed

A power of attorney carries its own risk. Under O.C.G.A. § 10-6B-14, the agent must record every dollar coming in and going out, so refusing to show those records is a warning sign in itself.

Criminal Penalties in Georgia

Georgia’s criminal code counts pressure, deception, and “abuse of access” as exploitation. That last term covers taking money a person could reach only because the older adult was incapacitated (O.C.G.A. § 16-5-100). The law protects everyone 65 and older, plus long-term care residents of any age.

Willful exploitation is a felony under O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102, with 1 to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both. Threatening the victim or a witness is a separate misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. Prosecutors can also charge theft by a fiduciary (1 to 15 years) and identity fraud (up to 10 years or a fine reaching $100,000). Since July 1, 2026, gift card fraud has been a crime in its own right, carrying up to 10 years.

Lawrence Montgomery Jr. of Hart County was the representative for his 77-year-old mother, a nursing home resident with Alzheimer’s. For five months he kept her Social Security instead of paying the facility, and the unpaid bills put her at risk of discharge. The nursing home reported him to the state Department of Community Health (DCH). In 2024 he pleaded guilty and received 10 years of probation, a restitution order, and a ban on serving as anyone’s guardian or power of attorney while the sentence runs.

Civil Liability

California has a dedicated statute for civil elder abuse cases. Georgia lawsuits usually rely on general claims instead: breach of fiduciary duty, conversion (wrongfully taking someone’s belongings), and fraud. Suits to recover property or its value have a four-year deadline (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-32), though if the deception kept the family from suing in time, the clock starts when it comes to light.

An agent who abuses a power of attorney must restore the principal’s property to what it would have been worth without the violation (O.C.G.A. § 10-6B-17). A spouse, children, heirs, a caregiver, or Adult Protective Services (APS) can ask a court to review the agent’s conduct. Undue influence is grounds to set aside a will, too. For willful misconduct or fraud, a jury may add punitive damages of up to $250,000, with no cap if it finds a specific intent to harm (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1). Businesses that cheat customers 60 or older face an extra civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-851).

Where to Report It

If the person lives at home, APS takes reports online 24/7 or at 1-866-552-4464 (option 3) on weekdays. For people in long-term care, contact DCH’s Healthcare Facility Regulation Division at 1-800-878-6442. Scams go to IC3 and the Justice Department’s National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311, and if someone is in danger right now, dial 911 first.

Call the bank right away, too. Its employees must report suspected exploitation to APS, and a Georgia law in force since July 1, 2026 (HB 945) allows a suspicious transaction to be held for up to 15 business days, plus up to 15 more. A trusted contact, if the customer named one, hears about the hold within three business days, so it’s worth setting one up in advance.