Financial or Material Abuse
Financial or material abuse is about unauthorised, fraudulent access to, and improper use of, funds, property or any resources of the adult at risk. This is often present with other types of abuse.
Some forms of this, such as scams, fraud, direct theft are quite easy to recognise, but financial abuse can start small and develop – a neighbour starts by helping with shopping and doesn’t return all the change, begins to charge large amounts for the service, perhaps then puts emotional pressure on an adult at risk to help buy a car, or to change their will.
Help to prevent this by checking how people are managing and safeguarding their affairs; consider their mental capacity and think about any particular risks.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a person who had been chosen by the adult to help them to make decisions about their health and welfare, and/ or financial decisions, if they lose the mental capacity to make the decisions themselves.
It needs to be a person they really trust; it is a legal power over important aspects of their lives. LPAs are expected to make decisions in the way that the person themselves would have done, to act in the best interests of that person. They have to keep records around financial issues and cannot use the person’s money or resources for their own purposes.
If there is a concern about the actions of an LPA, then the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) can investigate them and may take action to remove the person from the role.
There is also a website for more information and examples - About the AbuseByLPAs website & Blog - this is run by someone with direct experience, and aims to:
- Raise awareness and understanding of the nature and scale of abuse by those who have Lasting Powers of Attorney over others.
- Collect and share personal accounts of abuse perpetrated by LPA attorneys – so that the causes, common signs, and impacts of such abuse can be better known.
- Signpost information, resources and other organisations to support victims and survivors of LPA abuse and others affected.
- Share, discuss and advocate strategies for better preventing, identifying and stopping abuse by LPAs – and also bringing the abusers to justice.
They say "these web pages are mainly intended to help people in the UK affected by, wanting to learn about, and seeking to prevent LPA abuse."
Financial abuse enquiries will often involve the police, and there have been many successful prosecutions. Adults at risk are more likely to experience financial abuse by family, friends and carers. Many people do not think that using their relative’s money without permission or taking advantage of their situation is abuse.
Mental capacity is important to consider – adults at risk may choose not to support police action against family or friends, or carers they rely on. We still have to consider risks to others from that person, and should always talk through options, to stop it happening again, for example.
What might it look like?
- Fraud, scamming (including internet scams), theft
- Preventing a person from accessing their own money, benefits or assets
- Lending money that is never paid back
- Undue pressure, duress, threat or undue influence (coercion) put on the person in connection with loans, wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions
- Arranging less care than is needed to save money to maximise inheritance
- Someone stopping others helping to manage/monitor financial affairs
- Refusing to access benefits
- Misuse of personal allowance in a care home
- Misuse of benefits or direct payments in a family home
- Someone moving into a person’s home and living rent free without agreement or under duress
- False representation, using another person's bank account, cards or documents
- Exploitation of a person’s money or assets, e.g. unauthorised use of a car
- Misuse of a power of attorney, deputy, appointeeship or other legal authority
- Rogue trading – e.g. unnecessary or overpriced property repairs and failure to carry out agreed repairs or poor workmanship
How might you recognise it?
- unexplained or sudden inability to pay bills, especially when there is someone appointed to support with this; debt building up
- unexplained withdrawal of money from accounts
- personal possessions going missing
- contrast being known income and actual living conditions
- unusual interest by friend/relative/neighbour in financial matters
- pressure from next of kin for formal arrangements being set up.
- Receipts not being provided for shopping or other services
Case study
Download Financial Abuse case study
Report Fraud: Every Report Counts - YouTube
Scamming
Filthy Rituals podcast – about a woman who scammed a large number of people by pretending to be a friend
Norfolk Police's Operation Radium - August 2025 onwards
Help Norfolk Police tackle courier fraud across the county. We are reaching out to all partner organisations like yours to request support in helping us raise awareness and protect vulnerable members of the community. See the letter from Norfolk Police here.
Courier fraud - a type of scam where criminals contact victims by phone, pretending to be from trusted organisations such as the police, government agencies, or banks. Victims are manipulated into withdrawing cash, purchasing
high-value items, or sharing sensitive financial information, often under the false promise that the money or items will be returned.
Impacts of this and other types of financial scams can be absolutely devastating on the victim.
We are asking all partners to:
- agree to receive trigger alerts from Norfolk Police
- share these alerts promptly with your contacts
- let the police know if you identify any related concerns or incidents.
Norfolk Police
Norfolk Police have a dedicated webpage with more advice and local information about fraud, in particular issues reported in Norfolk:
Norfolk Police - Advice about fraud
Thames Valley Police has developed a new romance fraud e-booklet, in collaboration with Professor Elisabeth Carter, criminologist and forensic linguist, Carter & Day consultancy. The booklet has been designed to demonstrate the clever tactics used by romance fraudsters, with a view to empowering the knowledge of our communities. It also dispels the myths of shame and embarrassment often associated with this crime, by highlighting the link to coercive control.
Hourglass, a charity dedicated to older adults and abuse, published a report called The Economics of Abuse in 2024 - you can read it on their website here.
Follow this link for information on how your bank can support and protect you from economic abuse - survivingeconomicabuse.org/i-need-help/banking/directory
This directory includes information about the support that some of the UK’s major banks and building societies can offer if you have experienced economic abuse.
How your bank may be able to help - if you have experienced economic abuse, your bank or building society may be able to support you.
If it is safe to do so, speaking to someone at your bank or building society can help you take steps to regain control of your money. This may include de-linking your finances from those of the abuser and suggesting ways of ensuring that the abuser cannot access your banking information.
Many banks and building societies have signed up to the Financial Abuse Code. This Code suggests specific ways in which they can support vulnerable customers. If your bank has signed up to the Code, there may be more they can do to support you
Nov 2023 From the charity Re-engage - report published The unseen price of a scam
