You now have more options to help report and prevent elder abuse in Wisconsin.
The Department of Justice has launched a new website at ReportElderAbuseWI.org that seeks to help residents learn more about how to handle elder abuse and how best to stop it.
“Elder abuse is drastically underreported, and it can be deadly,” said Attorney General Brad Schimel. “Studies show that even modest abuse increases the chance of premature death by 300%”
One major part of elder abuse is financial abuse, where a loved one seizes control of an elderly relative’s savings and spends it without their knowledge or consent. Schimel says that also includes scams and fraud that target an elder’s livelihood.
“Seniors have been left living in poverty even though they had worked their whole lives to save for a long and healthy and happy retirement and suddenly they’re left without those resources because someone took advantage of them.”
One in ten Wisconsin seniors faces some form of abuse every year. That number balloons to one in 44 when it comes to financial abuse or fraud.
The new website is being backed by ten weeks of web ads targeting the elderly and their families across Wisconsin.
