Bill targets scammers who victimize the elderly
A measure before Congress would help states monitor the credentials of people who claim to be senior or retirement specialists.
Every year, Karen Liebig attempts to steer thousands of seniors away from investment fraud. And, yet, every year the numbers get a bit more grim.
Fraud against seniors rose roughly 40% last year, according to the North American Securities Administrators Assn. Like Willie Sutton and the banks he robbed, con artists flock to "where the money is," and that's largely with seniors -- increasingly so as baby boomers age.
That's why Liebig, director of the Torrance-based KEEP-SAFE Coalition, a nonprofit education and advocacy group, supports recently introduced federal legislation that aims to curtail bogus credentials used to snare elderly clients.
The Senior Investor Protection bill would provide funding for states to monitor the credentials of people claiming to be senior or retirement specialists and provide funds to investigate and prosecute advisors who use fraudulent or misleading professional designations to get clients.
"There is no procedure in place that helps you differentiate between the honest and the dishonest," she said. "We work with several elder law attorneys, who are fantastic, and some real estate people who are wonderful too. But, there's very little that helps the average senior know the difference between these legitimate advisors and the guys who send you fliers, inviting you to a free lunch and investment seminar."
In the past several years, a virtual alphabet soup of "professional designations" have cropped up purporting to signal that the bearer has some specialized training and expertise in investment planning for retirees.
There are now 263 financial advisory designations, said Laurence Barton, president of American College, a Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based school that licenses insurance professionals. Dozens of the newest credentials suggest that the advisor has special skills in retirement planning or advising seniors.
Consider, for instance, the "certified elder planning specialist," a designation that required a 96-hour self-study course provided by the Institute of Elder Planning.
According to Massachusetts securities officials, the institute was run by an insurance broker who was not licensed to sell securities. The organization has since gone out of business, leaving no forwarding information.
Groups granting bogus designations are often boiler-room operations, authorities said. The moment you find one and stamp it out, dozens of similar groups scurry for cover, only to emerge later with new names and slightly revised scams.
