NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A North Texas family employed a caregiver to lend a hand with family duties, however as a substitute discovered themselves sufferer to a sequence of thefts, torment, and threats over the direction of virtually a yr.
Sally Wilkerson employed ComforCare, an organization offering aides for in-home care, to lend a hand her and her husband, who struggled with dementia. The caregiver first entered their lives in May 2020 and looked to be useful in taking Wilkerson to appointments and operating errands. However, two weeks after the caregiver started running with the family, she abruptly left, bringing up a private emergency relating to her daughter.
Soon after the caregiver’s departure, Wilkerson came upon a fraudulent price of $6,000 at Neiman Marcus on her credit card in the course of the evening. It was once just the start of a string of thefts, together with stolen monetary data, social safety playing cards, and clean exams. The family calculated the entire price of the thefts to be round $50,000.
After contacting the government and ComforCare, Wilkerson changed into the objective of extra thefts and harassment. The caregiver and her boyfriend again and again implemented for credit playing cards and loans beneath the Wilkersons’ information. Additionally, Wilkerson won textual content messages that incorporated her social safety quantity and calls for for $10,000 in money, whilst threats to kidnap her daughter have been additionally made.
The Carrollton Police Department investigated the placement, and after a number of months, concluded that the caregiver used a stolen id to procure the caregiving process. Brittany McDowell faces fees of Forgery Against an Elderly Person, Fraudulent Use-Possession of Identify Information of an Elderly Person, and Fraudulent Use of Identifying Information, whilst Kiissac Woods is charged with Forgery.
Caregiver robbery, whilst an excessive case on this example, is sadly now not unusual. A 2019 federal document printed that 19% of elder robbery instances contain a non-family caregiver.
Steve Benton, from the Senior Source, suggests quite a lot of steps to offer protection to your family members from caregiver robbery:
- Remove treasured jewellery from the house
- Lock up monetary information
- Install cameras
- Make unannounced visits right through the caregiver’s shift
Benton encourages grownup youngsters to play an energetic function of their folks’ safety and recommends undertaking background exams and constantly checking references. It is very important to observe the caregiver’s actions intently, take care of consistent conversation, and document any wrongdoing in an instant.
ComforCare has mentioned that it conducts background exams on all caregivers sooner than using them however would make constant reference exams for added safety at some point.
For the Wilkerson family, the assurances got here too past due, and they’re left to handle the aftermath of a horrific state of affairs. Wilkerson concluded, “She was supposed to be helping us and making our life easier, and she was making our life a nightmare!”