Seniors more vulnerable to abuse, scams amid the pandemic

An initiative started last summer by Community Legal Aid and a number of agencies in the Windsor region is finding support for the senior community is needed now more than ever.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there's a heightened concern that seniors may be especially vulnerable to elder abuse, and falling victim to financial scams.

"What happened is we came to realize that seniors typically are already isolated ... So COVID ended up, you know, really putting them in severe isolation. And with that, unfortunately, came the opportunity for more fraud cases to be perpetrated against them," explained Lilian Bahgat, review counsel with Community Legal Aid.

Bahgat said Community Legal Aid started taking on more cases of elder abuse, after a community member named Debbie Desjardins had reached out to the agency looking for resources on the issue of predatory fraud cases involving seniors.

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