A road map to help elders steer clear of financial scams

Thank you for highlighting the rise in tech scams that are draining people of their life savings (“When tech support is the real problem,” Page A1, June 11). Older people lose a total of more than $3 billion a year in financial scams, according to the FBI.

The best time to stop fraud is, of course, before it happens. That’s the idea behind a project called the Thinking Ahead Roadmap. It’s a free resource developed by gerontologist Marti DeLiema, elder justice lawyer Naomi Karp, actuary Steve Vernon, and researcher Mingyang Zheng, with funding from AARP. The road map takes individuals and couples through the steps of choosing and appointing a trusted financial advocate who will help them manage and protect their money while staying in charge of their own financial lives for as long as possible. It’s worth a look.