Have we all become so engrossed in our daily lives that we have forgotten how to do the right thing?"

By CORI GALEANO South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The situation Grace Jeremia's father went through is like the perfect storm of elderly exploitation, where seemingly everything that could have gone wrong, did.

The 80-year-old Tamarac resident, whom Jeremia would like to refer to as C.T. to protect him from further exploitation, has lived within his means his entire life. He was able to pay off the original mortgage on the home in which he raised a family on a mechanic's salary.

But C.T.'s situation seems to exemplify the classic case of corporations, banks, salespeople, medical personnel and shady home helpers taking advantage of an elderly man's natural tendency to believe that others have his best interests in mind.

C.T., who wears a hearing aid, was sold a bluetooth device for use with a smartphone he couldn't operate, Jeremia said. He was tricked into accepting a credit line at a 30 percent rate of interest, was sued for personal liability for allegedly hitting a woman as he shopped in a grocery store while riding in one of the store's electric carts, has had $50,000 stolen from his bank account by a woman who convinced him to add her as a co-signer, and is in failing health as a result of his age and the low quality of medical care he has received. And those are just a few of the issues Jeremia is trying to resolve for her father.

"Have we all become so engrossed in our daily lives that we have forgotten how to do the right thing?" Jeremia asked.

"The issue in America is they'd like to make it that the people are irresponsible, but it's the institutions that have failed us."

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