$2.6M grant expands certificate program addressing elder fraud, providing students real-life experience

SALISBURY, Md.- “Statistically speaking only about 5% of elder fraud is actually reported,” Worcester County Sheriff Office Operations Commander Captain Nate Passwaters said.

$2.6 million in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is heading to Salisbury University to tackle that, expanding their Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate Program.

W told its one of the only undergraduate certificate programs of its kind nationwide.

Perdue School of Business Professor David Weber says locally cases involving elder fraud are becoming more complex and dangerous.

“We are increasingly finding elders who are being victimized and using Bitcoin either in order to pay a ransom or in order to make some kind of fraudulent payment,” Weber said.

“Crypto Currency is a fairly new and emerging technology and it’s not a technology that law enforcement on the Eastern Shore in currently equipped to handle.”

That’s where the program’s student interns step in, assisting both the State’s Attorney Office Worcester County and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office with investigating these financial crime cases.

“These investigations can be very cumbersome and time consuming. At the same time, its real-world experience for them,” Captain Passwaters said.

The other piece is awareness and education, as students will help law enforcement with their outreach efforts to avoid those most vulnerable from becoming repeat victims.

“Normally what we find is that this isn’t the first time they’ve been scammed, often they’ve been scammed multiple times. So, it takes our investigators a lot of time and resources,” Captain Passwaters said.

“A lot of our cases elders are scared or embarrassed. Just being able to empathize with them and give them a little support because they do feel like they’re isolated and on their own,” SU Student Garrett Zawodniak.

Professor Weber tells us factors making the senior population more susceptible to these crimes on the shore include the lack geographical resources and many resort areas being retirement destinations.

We’re Many of the students in the program received scholarships that cover nearly all their tuition.

To find out more about the program, click here