Australian Banking Association
Updated: December 8th, 2025
Elder financial abuse can take many forms and can include repeated or one-off actions, threats or even a lack of action.
- Financial abuse is often not technically illegal.
- Often elder financial abuse involves someone unethically exploiting power of attorney or other legal mechanisms that give them control over an older person’s assets.
- Financial abuse often causes psychological, not physical harm.
- Often elder financial abuse doesn’t involve obvious physical threats or violence (although it sometimes does). Instead, the abuser inflicts profound emotional harm and psychological distress on the victim.
According to the “Safe & Savvy” guide —developed to help vulnerable adults, in Australia, avoid scams and fraud— here are 10 of the most common types of financial abuse…
This article is from the Safe & Savvy guide, a publication that was developed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) Customer Advocate, together with a large range of community and academic experts.
