FREDONIA, N.Y. — While backing his tractor in the garage Fred Gould, 77, of Fredonia got a call from someone claiming to be from the fraud department of his bank, questioning a number of credit transactions made in Florida.

"No, wasn't me,” he said. “I haven't been in Florida.”

Minutes later, while still on his cell, he got a call on his home phone from his actual bank alerting him of a scam. But it was too late, as Fred had already verified a code that enabled the scammer to steal Fred's money and identity.

"I was very, very frustrated,” he said. “Some anger. A lot of worry. An awful lot of stress.”

What You Need To Know

  • Fred Gould is one of thousands of seniors who had their identity stolen
  • The Center for Elder Law & Justice is working to create awareness about abuse
  • The center recently celebrated World Elder Abuse Awareness Month

Fred is retired from an insurance agency, part of a regional bank, where he was trained extensively on risk management and identifying fraud.

"I still failed,” he said. “I thought I was pretty good at protecting myself. Not as good as I thought I was I guess, especially when you catch me off guard like this.”

Fred spent the next several hours making calls and canceling credit cards, as the scammers had the limits raised before making a number of transactions.

One of the last calls he made was to The Center For Law & Justice, providing civil and legal services to people over 60.

"I've heard stories like Fred's many times in my career, said Kelsie Abbt, a paralegal in the Dunkirk office who worked with Fred to help guide him through the process.

Though Fred did a lot of the work, Kelsie says she helps clients check their credit and regain piece of mind.

"When people think elder abuse, they think physical violence. Things like that,” said Abbt. “Most of my work is with handling financial abuse of the older adults in our community.”

"Elder abuse can physical. It can be emotional. It could be psychological,” said Kathy Kanaley, Center for Elder Law & Justice supervising social worker.

Kanaley works with other social workers, attorneys, and a number of community investigative partners to help elder victims.

The center and its partners, recognized World Elder Abuse Awareness Month in June, to draw attention to the problem.

"Reach out. Speak out,” said Kanaley. “The people who are being victimized built our communities. If we could bring back some respect and treat older adults with dignity, the dignity that they deserve for their hard work and efforts for getting us to this point.”

Older adults like Fred, who encourages other victims to reach out for help.

"I mean, that's hard to admit,” he said. “Reality is reality, so you've got to deal with it.”