Tackle it Tuesday: Financial Exploitation (Part 1)

April 15, 2025

Welcome to Tackle It Tuesday, a social media series where an autistic employee at AAoM (yours truly) writes workplace (and now more!) tips to better cope with the stresses of a world not built for neurodiversity.

This Tackle it Tuesday is on financial exploitation. Well, the first of likely three entries: defining financial exploitation and how salespeople can push customers too far. I realized that this topic is huge and spans many different aspects of life. Who knew.

An image with a green background. In the center, there is an image of people in black shirts maliciously reaching for the figure (in the blue sweater)'s money. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Keep Your Money Autistic people are more likely to be targets of financial abuse than neurotypical people, both from people known to them and from scam artists pretending to be trusted sources, such as tech support from a large company. This one’s likely gonna be a three parter, there’s a lot here."

An image with a green background. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: What is Financial Exploitation? We’ll define this in plain terms, and expand it past the normal definitions of caretaker/partner abuse. Someone misusing your money, expensive items, or items that banks think are worth a lot, called assets (houses, cars, stocks) Someone using your name to make financial decisions without your consent or benefit. This can be either behind your back or by force."

An image with a green background. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: What is Financial Exploitation? And there’s more. Not giving you access to knowledge about your finances. Intentionally preventing you from knowing your rights around your money. Using emotions and urgency to make you work against your best financial interests. Like pushy sales people or a boss pushing constant unpaid overtime at work."

An image with a green background. At the bottom, there are four different people. From left to right, close friend, parent/family, caregiver, and partner. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Don’t Make Big Purchases Alone If you have a trusted person with you, they can point out parts of a deal or social cues that you might miss."

An image with a green background. At the bottom left, there is a person in a black dress shirt, shouting at a person in a blue sweater sitting at a table. There are papers flying. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Don’t Rush Big Decisions If you rush a big decision, you could get trapped into a situation that could be terrible in the long run. Some salespeople also like to rush their customers in order to get more money faster on said sale."

An image with a green background. The person in the blue sweater is resolute, and with their trusted person. The saleperson stands back. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: It’s OK To Say No. If something doesn’t seem right, it’s OK to take your time, and it’s A-OK to say no. Some salespeople will get pushy and try to force a yes, but they can’t do anything except get snappy. And if you have someone backing you up, it’s way harder to get pushed around."

An image with a green background. The same person in the blue sweater is shocked by something on a paper they are holding. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Don't Have The Money? Be very careful about recurring payments. A recurring payment is a payment you make multiple times on a schedule. Most commonly, they’re monthly or biweekly. If you have to make a recurring payment, only put in what you think you will have each month, and think lower if you have to."

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