The elderly are particularly vulnerable to scams and identity  theft and nowhere are they more vulnerable then when they are in a nursing home or assisted living facilities.  This week arrests were made in Florida involving identity theft from 44 residents of The Groves Center Nursing Home.  Much of the problem results from rogue employees stealing personal information including Social Security numbers from residents of nursing homes and assisted living.

TIPS

The Groves Nursing Home Center is making changes to prevent unauthorized employees from getting access to residents’ personal information by installing an electronic filing system limiting access to information.  If you have  a family member in a nursing home or assisted living facility, you should ask the management what they are doing to keep records secure.  More extensive background checks by nursing homes and assisted living facilities during hiring of new employees would also be helpful to weed out people with criminal backgrounds.