The Care Act 2014 describes ‘financial abuse’ as a type of abuse which includes having money or other property stolen, being defrauded, being put under pressure in relation to money or other property and having money or other property misused.

Financial abuse take many forms. It’s a type of abuse that can start subtle and is often hard to detect. When defining financial abuse, we know there are many elements at play. It is true that financial abuse often involves or is associated with:

Someone taking or misusing someone else’s money or belongings for their own gain
Harming, depriving or disadvantaging the victim
Controlling someone’s purchases or access to money
Often associated with other forms of abuse
Doesn’t always involve a crime like theft or fraud

What financial abuse looks like can vary which can make it difficult to detect and identify. As the Care Act 2014 definition shows, financial abuse can be concerning money, property or belongings.

Financial abuse might look like:

Borrowing money and not giving it back
Sudden close relationships/ romances
Stealing money or belongings
Taking pension payments or other benefit away from someone
Taking money as payment for coming to visit or spending time together
Forcing someone to sell their home or assets without consent
Tricking someone into bad investments
Forcing someone to make changes in wills, property or inheritance

Here are some useful links to help:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frauds-tricks-and-scams/fraud-tricks-and-scams

https://urc.org.uk/latest-news/3801-beware-of-phishing-emails-circulating-the-denomination

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/stop-scams/

https://www.anncrafttrust.org/predatory-marriage-safeguarding-matters/

Financial Abuse

Dealing with financial abuse issues.