We are pleased to provide you with a summary of our recent event, “Strategies For Success: Protecting Ourselves and Our Loved Ones from Fraud,” where a distinguished panel of experts shared critical insights on a growing and persistent issue. As scammers employ increasingly sophisticated methods, from online phishing and romance scams to imposter and grandparent schemes, it is more important than ever for individuals and families to be equipped with the knowledge and tools to safeguard their financial well-being. This event highlighted the various forms of fraud, particularly those targeting older adults, and offered actionable advice on prevention, detection, and what to do if you or a loved one becomes a victim. The following information provides a comprehensive overview of the event, including a detailed summary of the key takeaways, a full transcript with an accompanying audio recording, and a recent press release from the Alabama Securities Commission (AL SEC) on the critical topic of elder fraud.

Strategies For Success Fraud Panel

Protecting Yourself and Loved Ones from Financial Fraud and Cognitive Decline

**Speaker:**Marshall Clay (BCR Wealth), with panelists Amanda Sin (Alabama Securities Exchange Commission), Dr. Beverly Thorne, Dr. Catherine Koffer, Pam Leonard
**Venue/Event:**Professional Panel Discussion, Alabama (exact location not specified)

Overview of Key Themes

The panel addressed the growing risks of financial fraud and cognitive decline among aging adults, emphasizing the evolving sophistication of scams, the vulnerability of both elderly individuals and their caregivers, and the importance of proactive planning—both legally and medically. The discussion highlighted the need for community support, early detection, and practical safeguards to protect assets and well-being.

Key Points from the Presentation

• Increasing Vulnerability to Fraud:

• As lifespans increase, cognitive decline becomes more common, making older adults more susceptible to scams.
• Scammers are leveraging advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to create convincing frauds.
• The FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Report noted over $16 billion in reported losses—a 33% increase from 2023.

• Types and Tactics of Scams:

• Scams include phishing, spoofing, extortion, personal data breaches, romance scams, and even in-person fraud.
• Fraudsters often impersonate trusted institutions or individuals, and may even send people to victims’ homes.
• Family members can also be perpetrators of financial abuse.

• Role of Financial Institutions and Trusted Contacts:

• Banks and financial advisors play a critical role in detecting and stopping fraudulent transactions.
• Having trusted contacts or co-owners on accounts can provide an extra layer of oversight.

• Caregiver and Family Vulnerability:

• Caregivers, under stress, are themselves at risk for exploitation and burnout.
• Emotional and cognitive loads can create blind spots, making it essential to build circles of support.

• Early Detection and Baseline Cognitive Testing:

• Baseline cognitive evaluations, even before symptoms appear, help track changes and inform future decisions.
• Early intervention can slow progression and provide peace of mind.

• Reducing Stigma and Encouraging Open Communication:

• Normalizing conversations about aging and cognitive changes reduces embarrassment and secrecy.
• Supportive, non-judgmental responses from friends and family are crucial.

• Practical Safeguards and Legal Preparations:

• Use of account notifications, two-factor authentication, and regular review of financial activity.
• Legal documents (e.g., living wills, powers of attorney) and clear communication of wishes (including video messages) are recommended.

• Community and Professional Resources:

• Respite care programs, caregiver support groups, Area Agencies on Aging, and state services offer vital support.
• Proactive engagement with these resources can prevent crises.

• Self-Compassion and Recovery After Scams:

• Victims should not feel shame; scams are designed to exploit anyone.
• Openly addressing incidents and seeking help is essential for recovery.

Key Quotes

• “Nobody in this room is immune. There is nobody too intelligent or too knowledgeable to be a victim of this crime.” — Amanda Sin
• “Caregivers are incredibly stressed, both physically taxed and emotionally taxed and spiritually taxed, and they, too, are quite vulnerable.” — Dr. Beverly Thorne
• “Baseline testing… allows you to compare you to you.” — Dr. Catherine Koffer
• “It’s important to normalize discussions about aging throughout our lives so that when it comes to recognizing cognitive changes, you already feel less threatened sharing that with your family.” — Pam Leonard
• “Fraudsters are not only now contacting you over your phone or through a text… they are sending somebody… to your home to pick up the payment.” — Amanda Sin
• “If you see lots of Post-it notes around the house, unopened mail, piles of pills… those are clear signs [of cognitive decline].” — Dr. Beverly Thorne
• “Don’t try to go it alone. Caregiving is very hard, very isolating… It’s important to ask for help from the right people.” — Pam Leonard

Action Points for the Audience

1. Stay Vigilant:

• Be skeptical of unsolicited calls, texts, or emails—especially those requesting personal or financial information.
• Do not engage with suspicious contacts; hang up or delete messages.

• Establish Safeguards:

• Set up account alerts and two-factor authentication.
• Assign trusted contacts or co-owners to financial accounts.
• Regularly review account activity for unusual transactions.

• Plan Ahead Legally and Medically:

• Prepare legal documents (living will, power of attorney).
• Consider baseline cognitive testing before symptoms arise.
• Clearly communicate wishes to family, possibly via video or written statements.

• Build and Use Support Networks:

• Engage with respite care, caregiver support groups, and community agencies.
• Maintain open, ongoing conversations about aging and cognitive health.

• Prioritize Health and Social Engagement:

• Adopt healthy lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, mental health care).
• Stay socially active to reduce risk of cognitive decline.

• Respond Quickly to Concerns:

• If you or a loved one may be a victim of fraud or showing signs of cognitive decline, seek help immediately from professionals or authorities.

• Practice Self-Compassion:

• If you fall victim to a scam, do not be ashamed—seek support and report the incident.

In summary:

Proactive planning, vigilance, and community support are essential to protect yourself and your loved ones from financial fraud and the challenges of cognitive decline. Open communication, legal and financial safeguards, and self-care can make a significant difference in maintaining independence and well-being as we age.

ALABAMA SECURITIES COMMISSION
Post Office Box 304700 Montgomery, Alabama 36130-4700
Telephone: (334) 242-2984 or 1-800-222-1253 Fax: (334) 242-0240
Email: asc@asc.alabama.gov Website: www.asc.alabama.gov

Dear News Media Professionals: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASC Uncovers a Pig Butchering Operation and Arrests a Man Claiming to Reside in California Who Has Taiwanese Identification
 
Montgomery, Alabama (August 22, 2025) – Alabama Securities Commission Director Amanda Senn and Montgomery County District Attorney Azzie Oliver announced today that, Kuan Tso, age 28, was arrested for conspiracy to commit Financial Exploitation of an Elderly Person, a Class C felony and Financial Exploitation of an Elderly Person, a Class B Felony.  A criminal complaint alleges that Mr. Tso was to meet a 78-year-old Vietnam Veteran that resides in Montgomery, Alabama. The meeting was arranged for the veteran to pay over to the fraudsters approximately $300,000 in cash fees that were supposedly owed to the fraudsters from an earlier “Pig Butchering” scam. Mr. Tso was arrested by ASC Special Agents, with assistance from the Montgomery Police Department, on August 22, 2025, in Montgomery, Alabama. The victim is safe at home. Mr. Tso is being detained at the Montgomery Police Department.  
 
This is another case involving “Pig Butchering.” This scam is typically initiated when fraudsters send phishing messages through social media platforms, dating apps, and communication apps. To further entice individuals to respond to their messages, the fraudster uses stock photos of an attractive person and a fabricated profile.  Once the victim responds to the message, the con artist will begin to build a relationship with them. Through conversation, the fraudster casually mentions their wealth and cryptocurrency. When a user shows interest in crypto investing, the fraudster strikes. The victim is then instructed to deposit funds, and falsified returns are reflected in their account. When the victim attempts to withdraw their money, they are typically told that they must pay additional taxes or fees. This hefty bill, on top of the money already “invested” and lost, is often what prompts the victims to realize they are involved in a Pig Butchering scam.
 
Pig Butchering can be financially devastating to the victims. This particular case introduces an element of physical danger for all parties involved, as the transaction was to take place in person rather than electronically. This personal interaction is increasingly common and very concerning due to safety considerations.


The ASC thanks the Montgomery Police Department for its assistance in this case.
 
The ASC cautions investors to research any investment opportunity thoroughly. Call the ASC at 1-800-222-1253 and ask for the registration department to check out persons offering investment opportunities, investment advice for a fee, and any products they offer. Contact the ASC to report suspected fraud, inappropriate securities business practices, or to obtain consumer information. Free investor education and fraud prevention materials are available at www.asc.alabama.gov.
 
###
 
For further information, contact 1-800-222-1253 and ask for Public Affairs.
 
(NOTE: An arrest or indictment is not evidence that the defendant committed the crime(s) charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the government meets its burden of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt in court.)

Transcript:

2025-08-20 10:13:43 

Marshall 00:00:00 
Good evening. At BCR Wealth, we have the privilege of living vicariously through families that we serve. Most of the time, that means sharing joy and helping with exciting milestones. But sometimes that means walking beside them during difficult and heartbreaking situations, including when they or sometimes their loved ones recover from fraud or abuse. We’re living in a time when modern medicine continues to extend our lifespan. 

But while we’re living longer, we haven’t yet figured out how to stop the physical cognitive decline that can come with aging. The reality is more and more of us are becoming vulnerable to exploitation. Unfortunately, scammers are evolving as quickly as the technology is. They’re finding new and increasingly sophisticated ways to take advantage of people. They’re skilled at identifying and targeting vulnerable individuals, and they understand that aging adults often don’t have the tools or familiarity to detect the latest scams. But make no mistake, we’re all at risk. The FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Report detailed reported losses exceeding $16 billion, which was a 33% increase from the 2023 losses. That is just cyber crimes reported to the FBI. 

So that’s phishing, spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches. I’m sure you could tell us about many more that were reported to you and not the FBI. Personally, I’m grateful for my mother, her siblings, and what they do to protect my grandmother. But as I’ve said, I keep witnessing what happens to our clients. And seeing what’s going on, and I think about the future, I think about what it’s going to take to protect my mother, my wife, and frankly, myself. 

And so today what I’m going to try to do with this panel, we all tend to think about my grandmother or that person in your life that you think is already vulnerable or is close to being vulnerable. But I’m going to challenge you today to think about yourself. Yeah, I’m going to stop there. We could have taken this conversation in so many different directions. 

Marshall 00:02:45 
Could have had attorneys up here. Could have had banks up here. You know, could have talked about managing bills and finances.When to hire somebody. Could have talked about estate planning and Medicaid considerations, navigating. special needs. But we put together a panel that really impresses me. I think they’re going to impress you. Each one of them I could probably talk to for hours. I have talked to several of them for quite a long time about what’s going on. And I try to structure around what the five of us can talk about that I think will be very beneficial. So Amanda Senn is the director of the Alabama Securities Exchange Commission. The Alabama Securities Exchange Commission, is a government entity. And a lot of times you think about Alabama government and you’re not terribly impressed. The Alabama Securities Exchange Commission really is an example to all the other Securities Exchange Commissions around the country. I hear all the time about peers in other states and how they look up to what we’ve done and what you continue to do. Very impressive of scaring away the fraudsters and being there to support us. We regularly feel comfortable to call them and talk about our concerns, what’s going on and how they can help us and they’re there for us. So kind of to start for you, you know, you see an incredible number of scams. Would you share kind of what’s going on right now? What are the examples of what is attacking us right now? What do we need to be careful about?  

Amanda Senn 00:04:30 
Thanks, Marshall, and thank y’all. Thank you so much for having us tonight. I think this is the most important topic. Our office is a law enforcement agency as well. We investigate a variety of white-collar crimes. We have been inundated with financial elder exploitation cases, though. I have received almost $500,000 a year in reports from our financial institutions alone. That doesn’t include reports just from the general public or referrals from other agencies. I know Marshall, this topic is important to you because you have contacted us with a matter that involved an exploitation and it’s because of our financial community it’s easy to be a state regulator when you have a fantastic financial industry and we do here in Alabama, but they are boots on the ground and they can see when an account looks like it may be transferred into a fraudulent account or an activity that you know they’ve heard about or they can see the movement of money in a way that you guys can’t. They also have the benefit of seeing other accounts so they can compare and also the state and so we share information about the types of frauds but they are able to stop millions of dollars from leaving the accounts of our Alabama investors because you guys are paying attention and so and so in a nutshell our office has received thousands of reports of scams and frauds this year and guys, nobody in this room is immune. There is nobody too intelligent or too knowledgeable to be a victim of this crime. I see all the reports. There are prominent citizens in this state who have lost a considerable amount of money to fraud. And you think about it, my grandmother, being one of my own, almost a victim twice now. I never would have suspected that she would have walked into a bank and asked for her account to be liquidated while on the phone with a fraudster. She keeps up with everything. She heard this, Marshall. She’s not. She’s a retired educator. Many of our victims are doctors, lawyers, accountants. But when you get to a certain age, and this is why it’s so important that you have somebody that’s looking out for you, it’s just a fact of life. The frontal cortex hosts the financial judgment and reasoning portion of our brain. And y’all, I can’t remember names like I could 20 years ago. It’s just a fact. And so while she could keep up with every other aspect of life, financial judgment and reasoning wasn’t there, and so when she got a panic call, she went into the bank, and thankfully, it was the bank teller that contacted me. I’d worked with them before, and, I said, this is my mother. She should have called me, but she was embarrassed. So anyway, it can happen to anyone. I don’t want to dominate the time, but we see scams involving fake websites, impersonations. The latest involves people, fraudsters coming to your home in Alabama. We’ve had, and we’re, right now, this won’t go live, hopefully tomorrow, but we’re coordinating a sting to hopefully capture somebody that is meeting one of our 87-year-old victims at a supermarket parking lot to make a cash drop. 

Marshall 00:07:36 
It’ll take us a little while to get this up online, so don’t worry. 

Amanda Senn 00:07:39 
Don’t blow the cover. 

Marshall 00:07:41 
Dr. Beverly Thorne. Dr. Thorne was a professor at the University of Alabama. She has written many academic books. Her soon-to-be New York Times bestseller, Before I Die, she wrote a book called, I Lose My Own Mind came out in May. Dr. Thorne was a caretaker to her husband as he went through dementia. He was a brilliant man. I had the fortune of knowing Walt, and she had to see kind of the full progression. And she wanted to give back to those who were caring for others from both her knowledge of the psychology world, but also from being a caregiver. And so she’s come out with a book. At the end, she’ll sign copies for everybody who wants to purchase one. So Bev, caregivers often carry enormous emotional and cognitive loads. How does this stress increase their vulnerability, and how can they build a circle of support before they burn out due to blind spots? 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:08:51 
Yeah, we often think of the person being cared for as being a caregiver, particularly if they’re elderly, but particularly if they have cognitive issues, we think of them as the most vulnerable, and they are the most vulnerable. But caregivers are incredibly stressed, both physically taxed and emotionally taxed and spiritually taxed, and they, too, are quite vulnerable. 
One of the gifts that my husband gave me early on in his diagnosis is he found Marshall. And I, you know, we were ready to change financial planners. I didn’t much care for the ones we had, and he said, we’re going to this one. I said, great. I didn’t know what my husband was going to say to me, say to them. But what he did is he sat there and he said, I don’t need help now. He was an economist. He said, I don’t need help now, but I’m going to need help. Because I’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. My mouth fell open that he was that brave to say this to total strangers. And my mouth also fell open that Marshall just didn’t miss a beat. And he just acted like he hears this every day. And he said, and this is how we’re going to handle that. And you didn’t get that, oh, I’m so sorry, you know, that you’re going to die. And, you know, we’re going to try to protect you. But basically, we’re going to ostracize you. None of that. And it was so, so helpful. So I think that was a gift that my husband gave to me. And we shored up our accounts to reduce the possibility of scams. And there’s, excuse me, a lot of different ways to do that. And as we go along, I might talk about a few as we go along as well. 

Marshall 00:10:58 
I didn’t know we were going to go there, but thank you. I appreciate your trust in sharing that. Dr. Catherine Kofer is also a clinical psychologist. Dr. Kofer has served veterans for most of her career. She has recently joined Upward Behavioral Health. She does several different evaluations and therapies, but specifically she is an expert in dementia and cognitive evaluations. Does dementia and cognitive evaluations virtually in 42 different states. 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:11:36 
I think so. I’d have to double-check. 

Marshall 00:11:37 
It’s a lot. A lot, yes. So pretty impressive to see that you don’t have to be face-to-face, you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home, and they can take care of that. So most families wait until signs of cognitive decline are obvious before seeking an evaluation. When is it helpful to establish, when is it helpful to establish an evaluation baseline and how does that help with future decision making?  

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:12:07 
Yeah, so I think, as you said we often wait until everything’s kind of staring us in the face and then we’re scrambling. And unfortunately, as reading a study that said from the time of first symptoms are first noticed until the diagnosis is made can be up to three and a half years for people. And that’s three and a half years that you can be losing opportunities to make changes and improve things and slow the progression. The baseline testing is a little different. It is before you notice significant concerns. It’s kind of a part of a cognitive health evaluation that goes on. I come from a family with a lot of history of dementia and cognitive issues later in life. Frankly, some of it terrifies me because it can be scary to see. And baseline testing kind of compares, allows you to compare you to you. So when we do these kinds of tests, we’re comparing people to norms, the general population, which is great. But, If, like many people in this room, you’re a high achiever, you’ve accomplished a lot, you have a lot of these skills, it can be really easy to miss those changes. Because if you’ve been above average all your life and now you’re average, a doctor who may not know you that well can say, everything seems fine. But if you have that comparison to yourself, you can see that. I also find when I’m working with older adults, many people, there’s a myth in our society that to age is to become incompetent. And it is a myth. That is not the way it is, but we’ve all seen and heard that. And so people get concerned about their health. So baseline testing is also a way to provide peace of mind to folks, to look and see, you know, there are changes. Because, yes, our thinking does change as we age. But it gives us an opportunity to see what is working well for us right now, what are areas we might want to strengthen and focus. And so it’s a proactive approach to understanding where you are now, where that might look like. And then, as we’ve already had referenced, looking at financial long-term care decisions, family support, all of this. You can start having those conversations sooner. 

Marshall 00:14:09 
Thank you. Pam Leonard. Pam is the director of the CARES Dementia Respite Program at Collatt Jewish Family Services. Collatt Jewish Family Services does a lot of work helping people age in place, age how they want to age, and provides a lot of services to the community, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Pam herself, running the CARES Program, helps with both caregivers who need some time away from giving that care, but also to give socialization to people who are aging, who don’t get the ability to go out and do what they used to do. So, Pam, embarrassment and fear often prevent people from aging, sharing early cognitive changes, friends and families know, and what can they say to reduce that stigma and increase safety. 

Pam Leonard 00:15:05 
I think it’s important to normalize discussions about aging throughout our lives so that when it comes to recognizing cognitive changes, you already feel less threatened sharing that with your family, and also to know that that person is a safe person because it’s discussions you’ve had all along. I also think it’s important not to jump into action. We’re going to start making changes, and we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that. It’s very overwhelming for the person who’s just trying to wrap their head around the diagnosis, and so just to be calm, supportive, and I think as far as friends, it’s important not to disappear. If you share that with them, and your reaction is that you go away or not coming around like you used to, it’s going to make them not want to share it with their next person that could support them, so I think that would help the stigma just slow down, be calm and supportive. 

Marshall 00:16:02 
Thank you. So I have put together questions specifically for each of you or for multiple of you, but if there’s anything I’m missing or we’re missing y’all join in as we go. I figured Amanda, it’d be good to start with kind of what are the signs of fraud in general? Like what should we look for not only in today’s, but as they keep adapting and changing, what are the hallmarks if something is happening to you, you might see and go, this may be a scam. 

Amanda Senn 00:16:32 
Well, that’s hard to know because artificial intelligence has enhanced financial fraud to the point where it is very difficult. I mean, it’s almost imperceptible to detect what’s real and what’s not. Fraudsters have taken just here recently in the last 10 days, websites that are legitimate websites and duplicated them perfectly so that and pay, they’re paying Google to list their site, They’re a fraudulent site above all others. They’re paying for those sponsored spots. And so we’ve had Alabamians lose money to websites they thought they were logging in to their financial providers and entering their personal information, and then their accounts are drained, and all those phone calls, talking with victims. It’s tragic. And some people have had to turn to family members and move in with them. Because in those types of scams, where it’s just like cyber fraud, once the money is gone, there’s zero possibility of recovering money that’s in Southeast Asia. They don’t want to help us right now, unless we have something really big, and then they’ll turn around in Nigeria, and that’s the wealthiest population, they have all of our American dollars right now. But we can seize occasionally if you notice something. So anyway, in a nutshell, your question was, it’s very hard to detect fraud, and that’s why you have people that you trust to help you with these financial decisions. Your financial… Your financial providers are… Our financial, on the security side, our banks, our credit unions also do a great job of reviewing your accounts. And they’re not in there digging around for your personal stuff, but they’re responsible for paying attention to unusual transactions. And so, so many of these cases have come to us because our financial institutions, Marshall included, was able to stop fraud. A lot of our cases have involved romance-type scams, and I know y’all are saying, oh, I’d never do that. But guys, I have the list. I know who in this state has lost money. You just don’t know the situation that you’ll find yourself in. Maybe you’ve just lost a spouse, or you’ve just had this emotionally devastating situation that you’ve been through, and you’ve connected with somebody. And after COVID, so many people are online, and they are developing friendships online. I mean, people are dating online, and you just don’t know who to trust. But there have been relationships that have formed. Fraudsters have taken advantage of that. There have been job offers through employer relationships online. We’ve had a nurse recently, 42 years old. Leased $300,000. dollars over that opportunity an employment type opportunity and so it runs the gamut but you know it’s usually the person that’s closest to the victim that notices before the victim and very rarely do we have a victim that says oh 
my gosh I think I was a victim of scam. We had one in Huntsville who attended a presentation like this who came up afterwards and said you know I think can y’all help me with this I may be given money away to fraud and it was over a million dollars and she was retired and so nobody’s too smart you just don’t know the situation that you find themselves in.  

Marshall 00:19:37 
We were recently contacted.by our payroll company to warn all of our employees that that payroll companies websites are being spoofed and you go in and you put in your username and password and they are immediately going in passing the two-factor on to you so that they put the two-factor in and changing your name and password and changing your direct deposit. So when your payroll happens, it’s going to them, and you’re trying to figure out, wait, my payroll didn’t come in. What happened? And you thought you logged into your payroll. 

Amanda Senn 00:20:07 
Yeah, we put our entire lives online. I can say I’ve never been on social media. But if you have created an online account or if you have posted to any type of social media, fraudsters have your information. And with artificial intelligence, they can put together a program that can pull your information so quick and put together a victim profile and specifically target you in ways that you would have never imagined, in ways that we would not have either but for the fact that we’re investigating these cases. 

Marshall 00:20:36 
So you mentioned kind of it sounds like outsiders. Where are they? How are they organized? Who are the insiders? Who are the trusted? Who are the people who are doing this. 

Amanda Senn 00:20:49 
So many of our cyber crimes involve folks that are overseas. They’re out of the country. So many of them are working in workshops and are there because of human trafficking. Human trafficking. You know, they’re kidnapped and they’re put there to work. There’s one in the Philippines that was just broken up by the FBI. And I say that, FBI, you know, the state law enforcement authority and other, they’re international, organizations that do help combat these frauds. But it’s so hard because there’s so much money being lost, unless it’s a very large volume, I mean, billions of dollars. You know, that $100,000, that’s a very large sum, I mean, 10,000, we prosecuted over five. There’s no amount too small because it just depends on the impact, but they do help to some degree. But most of these fraudsters, they move in and out so quickly. They are organized, sophisticated crime rings and they, it’s their business to do this and that’s all they do. But this recent one that, and you’ll get a release on this tomorrow, we’re issuing it because it’s so concerning. Fraudsters are not only now contacting you over this, over your phone or through a text message that you respond to. In this case though, they are sending… Sending somebody that’s part of the, the team, the fraud team to… your home to pick up the payment, the credit card information, the cash. In this case, it involves gold. And so we’ve had several reports in the last two weeks. That’s why we’re issuing an investor alert, because they have these people, they pay money mules, and some of these folks they pay may not realize that they are facilitating such an egregious crime, but they’re individuals that are showing up, and our victims have reported they run the gamut from different nationalities. Some of them don’t speak very well, which I’m not saying anything, but they’re sent over, and they are now helping facilitate crime in our communities. So they’re not just online. They’re not just on your phone from another country. They are sending people here to pick up money. And there’s been no physical harm yet, but you just don’t know. It’s a frightening type situation. 

Marshall 00:22:46 
Yeah, I mean, we have seen very strange situations. You brought up pig butchering earlier with me. We may get to that term in a second. But we saw a client. Not exactly romance, but a fake high school friend that was in trouble and needed help. And when they sent them money, sent them pizza to thank them and claim that they personally dropped it off kind of thing. Very strange. 

Amanda Senn 00:23:17 
Oh, yeah. Yeah, lots. And the family members, we’ve had family members, too, steal from other family members. So I know you guys have seen that. And so there’s no, you know, people say, oh, it’s a family civil matter. But domestic violence occurs among family members, and it is no less a crime simply because I’m not saying your grandchild’s stealing from you. But we do have cases where we’ve had grandchildren take money out, and it’s theft of property unless you give it to them. And we’ve had victims that have had to go on public welfare because their family members have depleted all of their assets. And those are the most tragic. 

Marshall 00:23:53 
Katherine, I witness that most people don’t want to acknowledge college decline as it takes a hold of them. How do we prepare we prepare ourselves to accept where our faculties are and work well with those that care for us. 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:24:05 
I think that is often one of the challenges because for folks with a dementia diagnosis, many people do experience a lack of awareness of those changes as well. It’s a clinical symptom of the disease, and this can make it very frustrating for caregivers and the person. There are certain things that we can do, and I think one of the encouraging things is more and more they are showing things that are positive and actually do reduce risk, modifiable risk factors and all. There was an article in Good Housekeeping about a woman who was caring for her own mother with a dementia diagnosis and started writing her own letters to herself and her children, outlining things that would be important for her to know in her own handwriting so she would believe it because sometimes, There can be some anxiety or paranoia that come along with these symptoms, just in case that was to come up. There’s been studies that find journal writing can be really beneficial. One thing I think is just really showing up is the best thing we can do is really take care of ourselves, which sounds really obvious. But study after study shows that if you have hearing loss and you go and you get hearing aids, you reduce your risk of dementia. If you have vision problems and you wear your glasses, you reduce your risk of dementia. If you have depression, anxiety, or insomnia, and you get those treated, you reduce that risk. So these are things that we can take care of ourselves today as far as kind of preparing and benchmarking. And there’s certain things we can do, and there’s certain things that will always be a challenge. But having that family support and connection and the discussion and being aware of what our risk factors are is a really key element for just any kind of good preparation. They all have their glasses. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:26:00 
I would also add that not only writing letters to yourself but as you’re doing planning and I really encourage everybody to consider their own life trajectory and what are their values in life, what makes life worth living for you. You don’t have to wait until you have mild cognitive impairment. In fact, you shouldn’t wait until you have mild cognitive impairment. But not only writing a letter to yourself and writing down things but videotaping one’s preferences. What do I want if this should happen? What do I not want if this should happen? And that is a convincing way to have a conversation with loved ones about your end of life or later life. What do I want if this should happen? What do I not want if this should happen? And that is a convincing way to have a conversation with loved ones about your end of life. adjunct to a living will that we may or may not have time to talk about today. 

Marshall 00:27:10 
Catherine, are there ways to set benchmarks for us to recognize what our capabilities are we struggling with as we age? 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:27:15 
There certainly are. We’re probably not all going to sit down every morning and do a test and look at how we’re prepared today. I sure don’t want to do that first thing in the morning myself. So it can be a little bit tricky and a lot of the early signs can be fairly subtle as well. So when we’re looking at cognitive benchmarks, we tend to be very hard on ourselves. I really wish I had the brain I had in college as a 20-year-old and I don’t and that’s okay. I am okay with it. But it’s tough sometimes to see those changes. This is where having good conversations, having people you trust in your life is important. We’re going to talk a little bit more about some of the early warning signs and things along those lines. But, I do think it’s looking for things like having more difficulty completing your day-to-day tasks and prolonged difficulties with this. We’re looking at those benchmarks for ourselves. We need to be kind to ourselves because, as I said, I see a lot of people that get very anxious about normal life changes, and that just causes more distress for them. So we can be kind to ourselves, but also if we’re seeing prolonged difficulties with certain things, following instructions, doing tasks around the house, driving to and from places and getting lost, these are the times where we need to kind of step in and maybe have that conversation. I’m really encouraged to see a lot of primary care providers increasingly offering some brief screenings for folks. It is brief. It’s not very detailed, but it will catch big problems before they can. So if that’s not something that’s happening in an appointment or your yearly checkup, that may be something to ask. Advocate and talk to your doctor about as well. And then, as I said, having that good family support so that you have that open communication, to say, I’m noticing this. Have you noticed it? Is this a problem? Those can be important steps. 

Marshall 00:29:10 
You mentioned the first things we’ll notice. What are those things? 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:29:15 
Well, it kind of depends. When we start talking about cognitive decline, each, if we’re talking about like a dementia, and there’s many different types, Alzheimer’s is by and away the most common, but we also have vascular dementia, Lewy body, other kinds. And each one of those has a different profile of what shows up first. So early warning signs for many people deal with trouble finding words. And I will probably forget a word at some point today. So not to panic if that happens on occasion, but when it becomes increasingly hard to communicate because you can’t find the word. For people who are really verbally quick, you’ll notice they talk around the word. Or you might do that. And so it’s… It’s this idea of missing that… And trouble with, as I said, planning and organizing, getting confused, following instructions and things is a hallmark of certain other conditions. One I like to mention because it’s common and it can be a big risk for folks is for some people there’s loss of smell, which COVID has complicated a little bit. But this is a good reason to check with family members and all to check the fridge because I’ve had many times where people are eating food that is unhealthy because that loss of smell is actually one of the earliest signs for many dementias. It can be really easy to miss, but it does show up. So we have the kind of cognitive class and then we have some kind of more unusual physical symptoms as well. Is the peanut butter test valid. 

Amanda Senn 00:30:46 
The peanut butter test. The Alzheimer’s peanut butter test. I’m not familiar. I’ll bring that one out later. They say you stick it in a certain way they can tell. Everybody’s convinced now. 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:31:00 
I will Google that later. 

Marshall 00:31:09 
You know, all of us, I think with what we do, all five of us have seen times where someone needed to acknowledge a need for help or change. Can you all tell me some stories about how someone has successfully helped someone recognize a need for change? Need for help. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:31:40 
Since I have written the book, I’ve gotten a lot of people coming to me with situations, with concerns, and how do they approach their loved one. difficult clinical question. It depends on the dynamics of the family situation. It depends on the relationship among the people. It depends on if you’re a sibling or if you’re an adult child or if you’re a spouse or a partner. And so there’s lots of different possibilities. I did have a couple come to my home a couple of weeks ago, and this is an unusual couple. And the woman approached me in my Pilates class, and she said that her husband had been diagnosed with dementia, and they wanted to do everything they possibly could. And could I meet with them and talk with them? And I said, of course. She’s a friend of mine, an acquaintance of mine. And they came to my home, and he said that he had a screener. In the physician’s office, and he had said that I was a little, I’m a little concerned about, my clarity of thinking and he did this screener and this gentleman said to me and I truly messed up the clock drawing test that’s one part of a screener and I said what do you mean and he said I had a really difficult time getting the long hand right on the mark that should have been 20 after and I said I can you draw it for me and because when you mess up a clock drawing a test we’re talking about a real mess here we’re talking about all the numbers squished into the right quadrant or something and he drew it and he said see that is not as precise as I think I would want it and I thought oh this is going to be an easy one he did go and get testing and interestingly now there are biomarker tests that do not have to wait until after you die to verify Alzheimer’s and then, there’s a, it’s a two-edged sword because it means that we can detect a disease process, a biomarker of the disease, 20 years before symptoms may develop. But the other edge of that sword is, what are you going to do with that information in those 20 years? And what is the health care market going to do with that information? We could talk for hours about that. But anyway, my anecdote. 

Amanda Senn 00:34:31 
We see casces every day where a victim, somebody that’s lost a ton of money to fraud, is having a hard time recognizing that they’ve been a victim of a scam or a very complex fraud. In some cases, it’s very complicated, long, drawn-out fraud. And family members are then tasked, and we have a victim service officer, and they go out, and I’ve been on several of these visits. I’ve been on several of these visits. I’m a prosecutor by trade, almost 17 years, and so I’ve sat in victims’ homes with them on numerous occasions to finally convince that person that they have been a victim of a financial fraud, and it’s hard. Many of these people were very successful in life and their careers. Retired bank president more recently. And so the Securities Commission has helped with those conversations, and many of those cases we’re happy to do that, of course. But it’s the hardest for the spouse. And you mentioned making a video, and this is the biggest way you can do it. From a financial fraud standpoint, make a video. You know, I love you, honey. If this happens to me, please help me put a stop to it, because there are family members that call me and say, I mean, I just can’t get my husband to stop turning money over to fraud. I can’t get my father, executive director of a very large non-for-profit in the state. She was stunned that her mom was losing money to a romance scam, and it was $70. $70. When she contacted us right before Thanksgiving, she had no idea. She never expected her mom would do that. And so she had to have these conversations. We brought a victim service officer and helped her with that. But those are the hardest conversations that we’ve witnessed, but it happens every day with the victims that we see in this state. So help your family members out. If you get to that point, it can be difficult. Make it easy for them. Do a video and say, if we get to this point, just know that. I need you to help me with my finances so we’re not bleeding money to fraud that will never come back and make it a little easier for them. I’m doing it with my mother who accidentally got involved in two frauds. One of them involved CBD gummies. I’m not even going to share that story, but no idea. She had no idea. But she welcomed that assistance. 

Marshall 00:36:47 
All three of you are involved with helping people kind of slow down that decline. Tell me what we can do. do when whether we’ve been evaluated or we’re noticing things and realize that we want to stop. 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:37:06 
the advancement. I think I mentioned a few things earlier and I do think there’s a lot of research into this that’s finding more and more ways we can we can help but as I said if we take good care of ourselves so I mentioned earlier Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia the second leading is vascular dementia which deals with strokes and other vascular changes so if you want to take good care of yourself to slow that progression you know. 

Eat healthy get some exercise that your doctor agrees with make sure you’re you’re taking care of your body make sure you’re taking care of your mind. As I said the initially some of the studies that were looking at like anxiety depression insomnia said actually we think this is just maybe one of the first signs but when they started treating it and they found that the actual risk decreased they said no this is just something you, that’s predisposing people to this. So if you have mental health conditions, and there’s some studies with PTSD as well, there’s been a lot coming out recently, find someone that can help you with that. Find good treatment that will support you. And then one of the other things that really shows up a lot is social support is incredibly protective. So all of us today and hopefully 10 years ago and tomorrow building those social networks that are going to be the people in our lives that we can lean on, and they will protect you in that way. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:38:37 
And I would really focus, I would really highlight lifestyle issues and the research is coming out very clearly that there are lifestyle interventions that we can make that not only prevent dementia, but actually reduce cognitive impairment. And so… Exercise, the Mediterranean diet on steroids is called the mind diet, but the Mediterranean diet, physical activity, social interaction, cognitive stimulation, and now we can, like I said, detect Alzheimer’s disease in particular with biomarker tests. If it were me and it was 20 years ago and I knew that I had the Alzheimer’s biomarker, I would be much motivated to do the lifestyles intervention that are being talked about as preventing upwards of 40% of dementias, particularly vascular dementia because it’s associated with all the inflammatory conditions that are associated with dementia. So I’m putting my money on lifestyle. I’m glad that we’ve finally come up with an immunotherapy, a couple of immunotherapies. that can spare, to some extent, function for months, not years, for people. But they’re not without risk. They’re terribly expensive. I think their value is it’s going to lead to better and better research if our research funding continues. That’s another issue that I shouldn’t talk about. 

Pam Leonard 00:40:23 
I was just going to say I’m glad you mentioned socialization because what I see at our CARES respite program, is it’s an opportunity for people to participate in a fun, active, and stimulating environment. We have had people who have attended our program, a man who had Parkinson’s, and he once said to us, you know, the best medicine for me is coming here, because he wasn’t isolated. He had community again. He felt connected, and his emotional needs were met along with those social needs, and we exercise and do all the things. that are good for the brain while we’re there, so I’m a big proponent of that. 

Marshall 00:41:05 
just making sure you stay connected. So Pam, sticking with you, I told everybody else to put it close to mouth, right? Pam, sticking with you, you know, I think it’s obvious that probably people show up after they’ve been diagnosed to work with you, but what other red flags occur that bring people to a respite program. 

Pam Leonard 00:41:31 
I think we’ve spoken to some of that, but for us it could be more dramatic because it might not be someone recognizing their own cognitive changes, it’s their loved ones who are seeing these day-to-day tasks that they’re struggling with, and that really speaks to the vulnerability of living alone. It’s they’re forgetting to pay their bills, they’re missing medication doses, it’s time to get them refilled, and we still have a bottle full. Those are, the things that I think often kind of clue families in if it’s not driving accidents or reports or oh no I caught this pot on fire on the stove. You know oftentimes by the time they get to us for the families it’s often been more of that dramatic observations that they’ve seen because they know that they can’t continue to live alone they need some kind of supervision so I’m the big red flags there right so and like I said.  

Marshall 00:42:33 
It’s hard to bring it back to us because it feels like so much is talking about others right but thinking about what we need to do from a legal and a financial safeguard for ourselves and I think you know both of you have a lot of great stuff to talk about there I might start with Bev you you shared some stuff recently to me about additional documents that you have.  

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:43:00 
Right, so, and just in terms of financial, one of the things that if you trust your family members, and hopefully we do, but a trusted source, a trusted source that can have access to information about your finances, certainly Marshall, this was a number of years ago, but he called me one day and he said, Bev, is there a reason why you’re changing everything over to Fidelity? And I went, whoa, wait a minute. And it wasn’t a scam. It was a human error at Fidelity. They had transposed two numbers. But I wouldn’t have known that had he not been looking at that. 

But my son is a co-owner on my checking account. And if I were to die or be disabled… Quickly. He has access to all of that. He can continue to… pay my bills. I also set up, and really I like this so very much, I set up a notification on my credit cards, and every time I make a charge, my credit card company texts me and emails me. 

And twice now we’ve caught a pending fraudulent claim. I call them and they go, oh no, we’re not paying that, and they turn it over. And I think that’s a terrific thing. And two-factor authentication, but you are starting to make me nervous about that too, so I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s a good one. But trusted sources, trusted sources that can really look over our shoulders and say, that doesn’t seem right. Let’s work on this together with another trusted source. Who’s looking over their shoulder. 

Marshall 00:45:00 
Amanda. 

Amanda Senn 00:45:00 
Yeah, having your money at a financial institution is important because our folks in the financial industry are paying attention. They really are. They care. We get calls all the time with questions from our advisory community. You know, just pick up the phone and call. But they’re monitoring those accounts for fraud. That’s frontline. He said trusted contacts. We’ve encouraged y’all for years, I know. List somebody. They don’t have access to your account. They don’t see your financial statements. But somebody that you trust truly, you know, it could be a lawyer. It could be an accountant. I mean, who wants to trust a lawyer? I always say a lawyer. But somebody that you trust, you know, put them on the account so that if, yeah, or maybe not. You just never know these days. But you don’t want everybody calling you. So that your financial advisor can call or, you know, broker, if you use just a broker, if they suspect something and they also suspect that their client is not, doesn’t recognize that they are being, victimized over and over again. Because we get so many of those cases that a trusted contact is finally somebody that we have to call and it starts the process of helping to protect those assets going forward because you do not want your account bled off to fraud. And so trusted contacts, you know, there are other things too you can do, but certainly bring in people that you trust. Put them on the account if you have to. If you trust them enough to put them on your account, they’re not going to hopefully steal from you. There are not a lot of cases that involve family members. I’ll say that. There aren’t that many, but there are enough. I have a little thief out here. What’s going on? Call me later. 

Marshall 00:46:43 
Services. Where do people turn to? You mentioned when I heard you speak recently about concierge medicine and turning to that. We’ve got… Dr. Wu here, who is a concierge doctor who’s helping a client’s family right now. Several of us up here help people. What other services should people be looking for to support themselves as caregivers, thinking about what they need to prepare for so that if they become vulnerable, they already have services in place to support them as opposed to having their family have to look for it later. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:47:27 
Well, one of the things that has been impressing me lately is the increase in respite care services for loved ones with cognitive impairment so that the caregiver can take care of themselves better. And I would say 10 years ago, there was a support group at a local church that…That was not… for me and there was really nothing else and this is in the Tuscaloosa community where there should be tons of support and where I found my support was on closed Facebook dementia caregiver support groups and the nice thing about those is they are somebody’s on there 24 7 and you can post but don’t post your financial information but you can post something and somebody will respond to you anytime and I had very good luck with that but there’s more and more and more services available respite care services for example which is a good thing because dementia is only on the increase and we’re in some ways going to be dealing we are dealing with a tsunami we expect that the number of dementia cases will double by 2060 and that’s really right around the bend. 

Marshall 00:49:00.  

Pam, I feel like I take for granted that I know CJFS and some of your co-workers, and I know what a respite care program is. Would you define what a respite care program, what y’all do for those who might not know they’re listening to this?  

Pam Leonard 00:49:23 
Sure. So I’ve kind of already said a little bit. I can’t leave out the fun, the engagement, the socialization, because it’s a huge part of what we do. But as Beverly shared, it’s not just for the person that’s attending. We also offer support for the caregivers who are bringing their loved ones there. We have caregiver support groups that we run at least twice a week, daytime and nighttime, to give them options to attend. We also, I’m lucky to be a part of a larger CJFS organization that does assessments and case management for people. So I really have something to offer our caregivers. It’s not just what happens when they come in the care space, but we have social workers that will come out, do an assessment. They’re looking at what you need now to live safely. They’ve been trained and certified for home safety assessments, and they also are looking at what you might need to anticipate for the future, which is the message we keep sending up here. We want people to think ahead and not be in a moment of having fraud or have lost your money because someone didn’t get involved early enough to kind of get a handle on what we need to prioritize to help people just to age well. So I didn’t talk too much about CARES, but it’s definitely a component of what we see as fully serving families who are in need. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:50:48 
I would also mention the Area Agency on Aging. There is an Area Agency on Aging in every community, across the state. That’s the United States. But in Alabama, we have several areas, and they are so receptive to telephone calls, and they will come and help you figure out, okay, is this person eligible for Medicare, Medicaid services, et cetera? And then the other one I really like is Dementia Friendly Alabama. They offer a lot of services, and they offer free robotic pets, if you qualify, really cute cats, and really cute dogs. My sister has one. How did you qualify? She might have paid for hers. But anyway, those are two agencies that I have. I have found exceptionally helpful for myself and my people that I’m consulting with. 

Amanda Senn 00:51:56 
I have to add to that list, because we do have… several statewide task force, your government is here to help, you know, usually, but I’m kidding. So we do, in all seriousness, Alzheimer’s task force that our legislature has helped push in our governor’s office, and there’s several of us that are members on task force, myself included. I’m on the advocacy subgroup, but they’re working through potential legislation to help provide more research in Alabama on Alzheimer’s, and anyway, I can share that information with you guys. And then our Department of Senior Services, too, has information about the AAAs and the 

Central Alabama Aging Consortium. There’s just a lot of groups that are well-connected. AARP has information, too. They actually have a fraud hotline that’s really neat, you know, AARP, but ADSS, Department of Senior Services, has several on their website as well, kind of put them all together. And then, of course, the Alabama Securities Commission. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give us a shout-out. For anything financial-related, y’all don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call us if we can’t help you. I do have live people. I refuse an automated system, so you’re going to get a live person, and we’ll direct you to where you are. you know you can get help or or we’ll handle it yep and and go through us or your financial advisor. 

Marshall 00:53:05 
you know we’re not shy about calling them and they they respond extremely quickly um I’ve called them several times and they have helped every single time um uh Catherine on the on the foot on the on the other side of this um uh as I mentioned I mean I’ve got several stories I can tell about clients and family members of clients that have had problems and there’s several that that people are humiliated and don’t want us to share that I can’t share out that are 
confidential um how do people have self-compassion uh how do they take care of themselves responding after a scam to address it make the right decisions and not try to cover it up because they don’t want to admit that it happened. 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 00:53:49 
I think you hit the that guilt that embarrassment that leads to secrecy and a lot of times these scams depend on that you, They are hoping you will feel embarrassed that you lost your money. You don’t want to tell anyone. You don’t want to call your bank or your financial advisor or anyone and let them know. And that’s how it works oftentimes. My grandmother years ago called a scam, got called. They impersonated my cousin. She said, you don’t sound right. I said, oh, I broke my nose in an accident. I’m in the hospital. Help me. She realized something was wrong, but she still felt embarrassed that she had even considered it. Even though she did all the right things and she contacted someone and didn’t give them any money. But it’s so built in that we should see this. And I think one of the things, Amanda, you shared is these are criminal rings. These are businesses. And when I’ve worked with folks who have been scammed and are dealing with that, because it is, it’s a hard hit. None of us like to think we can be tricked. When I’ve worked with folks, just saying, this is their job. Their job is to be good at tricking you. And when. it doesn’t work, they go back and they figure out why it didn’t work, and they improve for next time, so it’s, when you get caught by that, it’s, it’s not your failing, they have targeted and developed this to catch you, and to consider all this, they’ve done this hundreds and thousands of times, and some of them probably more than that, so I think that helps us build this sense of compassion, that we’re human, none of us think as well as we would like when we’re stressed out, and when your bank says, we’re about to take ten thousand dollars out of your account for this, that sends my stress level through the roof, we feel that sense of embarrassment, did I do something wrong, especially if it’s something we’re unfamiliar with, we might not be as likely to reach out to someone and say, I don’t quite understand, did I do something wrong, said I have some family members that I get that a lot of times, they’ll say, well, I probably just messed it up, because they think, don’t realize it’s a scam, so. we have to be kind to ourselves in that, be kind to our family members. They don’t need any more guilt and they don’t need to be chided or anything. Recognizing that this is designed to be tricky and deceptive. They are banking on that embarrassment, keeping you quiet and keeping you from reaching out because that allows them to do more. And kind of going back to a theme that’s come up, we need to have those people around us that we trust and that we know are going to have our back when things don’t go well. 

Marshall 00:56:34 
So kind of closing thoughts and I’ll, I’ll start off. First of all, I want to thank all of y’all for being here. You know, I’ve been helpful to me in the past, helpful to my family members. And I think helpful to this audience today. I will say to the audience, if a good old boy calls you and, and tells you he’s with the Jefferson County Police Department, and that you missed jury duty or you didn’t pay a traffic ticket or whatever it may be, hang up the phone on him. They do not call you over those things. If you get a text from a number that you do not know, do not engage. There’s so many scary things out there. They’re just trying to get one little thing out of you to get the ball rolling. So be very careful. Closing thoughts of what you would reiterate or what hasn’t been said that you think we all need to hear today. 

Amanda Senn 00:57:40 
Just to pay attention, you know, and it does happen. I know that because I get all the reports across the state in every community, and there’s a ton around here in Jefferson and Shelby County, Shelby County. You know, if you suspect, it’s usually not the victim, but it’s someone that loves you or a friend, friend or family member. That someone is becoming a victim of financial fraud or suffering early cognitive decline, get help early because sometimes we get the cases, 
they’re so far advanced, I mean, they’re tragic. The situations are tragic. And if you need our help, we certainly have it, and there are plenty of other folks. And Alabama is just such a great state. We really do care about each other small, and we’re pretty well connected with one another in terms of services that we can provide or community-based programs. So don’t wait another minute because we’ve seen what happens on the other side if it gets too far gone. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 00:58:36 
And what I would say in terms of helping to recognize a loved one or a friend or a family member that might be experiencing cognitive decline, if you see lots of Post-it notes around the house, if you see a lot, it’s okay, this is just one thing, if you see a lot of unopened mail, especially unopened bills if you see piles of pills I was in the house of somebody a couple of months ago and there were piles of pills that were apparently supposed to have been taken in various strategic locations in the house those are all of those together are kind of clear signs and I want to go back to the do not engage because I didn’t learn this the hard way but when I get a call from the IRS for example I am sort of a smart aleck and I want to engage and I want to say listen you idiot I know that is not the right thing 
to do even though you know and you’d like to give them you know give them the what-for do not engage do not do know that the IRS doesn’t call you and do not engage when that happens instead of being a smart aleck thinking, You can beat the crime ring because you can’t. 

Amanda Senn 01:00:03 
Well, they’re retaliating now, just so you know. 

Dr. Beverly Thorn 01:00:05 
Oh, great. 

Amanda Senn 01:00:06 
Now, if you do that, the fraudster will, like, we’ve had a couple of cases where they’ve called in, you know, dozens of pizzas to your house or law enforcement. They’ve called 911 on your house. They will retaliate now. So I’d watch doing that. There’s a term for it. I can’t remember. I probably wrote it on a Post-it note. They’re everywhere. So call Marshall back, you know. Call Beverly back. I don’t know. But, yeah, they are retaliating. Is it swatting? Mm-hmm. Yeah, we’ve had cases in Alabama, instances of that. So we’ve got the term. 

Dr. Katherine Cofer 01:00:40 
If I had to kind of summarize one thing that I hope for everyone in this room, it’s just, you know, to be aware of our cognitive health and to pay attention to it. I got my little smart watch, and it’ll tell me if my heart rate’s too high. It’ll remind me to breathe. It’ll remind me to drink water. But there’s not a watch that’s telling me, are you taking good care of your mind? Are you using those skills? Are you getting, well, I guess it’ll tell me about my exercise, but checking on that exercise and things. So this isn’t something that is unavoidable, you know, train wreck waiting to happen, but there are things that we can do today, taking care of our mental health, our physical health, our cognitive health, whether that’s through talking with your doctor, getting screenings done, doing a more thorough baseline testing, or if symptoms are progressing, doing a full cognitive evaluation to see where you’re having difficulties. This isn’t something that we have to put off and just kind of look towards the future with fear, but we can start taking good care of ourselves today to improve what the next, hopefully many, many years of our lives look like. 

Pam Leonard 01:01:44 
Similar advice more than anything, don’t try to go it alone. I think caregiving is very hard, very isolating. You’re afraid to ask for help. It’s important to ask for help. It’s important to ask for help from the right people, the ones who can support you. If it’s about financial concerns or vulnerability to just needing help in your home or finding the right resources, it’s important to reach out.