Marketplace All-in-One How to freeze out scammers
Apr 9, 2026
Shannon Miller, an elder law attorney in Florida who fights financial exploitation of older adults. She recounts a multi-year $2M loss and how courts missed chances to stop transfers. She discusses Florida’s service-by-text law, tools to freeze accounts when scammers are anonymous, and using federal powers to seize crypto wallets.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Aging Brains Raise Scam Vulnerability
- Aging brains can change physically in ways that increase vulnerability to financial exploitation.
- Marketplace's 2019 Brains and Losses investigation documented persistent scams and a 79-year-old nurse who lost $200,000 from repeated calls, illustrating the risk.
79-Year-Old Nurse Lost $200,000 To Persistent Calls
- A 79-year-old school nurse lost $200,000 after persistent scam calls, including one while a reporter was at her home.
- The repeated contact and persuasive scripts overwhelmed safeguards and family efforts to intervene.
Late Guardianship Filing Let Cashier Checks Clear
- A Florida client lost $2 million over several years and faced an additional potential $500,000 loss when cashier's checks were about to be issued.
- Guardianship filings arrived after the bank paused the checks, but court orders reached the bank a day too late and funds were released.