The Usefulness of Suspicious Activity Reports in Understanding Financial Fraud of the Elderly

• In Event: Emerging Topics in White-Collar Crime Research

Abstract

Examination of elder financial exploitation will become a pressing line of empirical inquiry in the coming years as the “Baby Boomer” generation ages and elects to remain in the care of extended family. These projected demographic and lifestyle shifts will be coupled with the increased use of technology to facilitate fraudulent activity among senior citizens. Further complicating this line of inquiry is the fact that, due to its nature, elderly persons often do not self-identify as a crime victim; thus, charges are rarely filed. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the usefulness of the Suspicious Activity Reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Treasury - Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by financial institutions operating in the U.S. between 2014 and 2018 as a measure of potentially fraudulent activity against senior citizens. These data allow for the examination of relationships between the number and typology of activities reported and county-level sociodemographic variables. Given the clustered nature of the data, the analysis takes advantage of the generalized linear mixed models framework to delineate a clearer understanding of elder financial fraud.

Authors

• Ramiro Serrano-Garcia, Northern State University

• Courtney A. Waid-Lindberg, Northern State University