TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A Tyler veterans’ home hosted the Smith County Adult Protective Services 2nd Annual Financial Exploitation Awareness Walk Tuesday in light of Financial Exploitation Awareness Month.

Shelley Shaw, a community engagement specialist for Texas Adult Protective Services, and one of the walk’s organizers, said raising awareness is an important step in educating and protecting our senior citizens.

“Our seniors are the most trusting, caring individuals, and so a lot of times they fall into the scams and the frauds,” Shaw explained. “And then that leads them into being in a state of neglect.”

In a previous interview , Shaw said there were 13,000 allegations of financial exploitation of elderly Texans in fiscal year 2024, with over 800 of those originating in East Texas. S

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