I just read an article about a nurse from Florida who was convicted of wire fraud, theft of government funds, possession of unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft.

The nurse worked in a nursing home between October of 2011 and December of 2012 and while employed in that capacity, she stole the personal information of 26 patients, and had access to the personal information of up to 150 residents of the nursing home.

The nurse had access to the residents’ personal information, and she then used it to file false tax returns and received $141,790 in fraudulent tax refunds.

Our seniors are easy prey for scammers such as this nurse. She had access to personal information that was present in the residents’ rooms and contained in their medical file. You can imagine how easy it was for this nurse to conduct this scam.

If your loved one is in an assisted living facility or a nursing home, and there are multiple people in and out of the room, consider taking their sensitive personal information out of the room and bring it to your home for safe keeping, or buy your loved one a locked filing cabinet so it is more secure. Leaving sensitive personal information lying around and in view of others is tempting. Protect your loved one by keeping their personal information safe from loss or theft.

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