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 "We're pleased that Illinois' banks and credit unions have
trained their staff to learn how to help their older customers
avoid financial exploitation," said Brent E. Adams, secretary of
the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
"Predators trying to manipulate financially vulnerable seniors
will find it more difficult now that staff is able to recognize
scams that can hurt both seniors and their financial
institutions."
"The Department on Aging is pleased to have developed the
Bankers and Seniors Against Financial Exploitation, or the B*SAFE, training program," said John K. Holton, department
director. "The training includes guidelines for staff at banks
and credit unions to identify and report suspicious
circumstances. Financial exploitation is the most commonly
reported form of abuse against older adults, and we consider
this an important first line of defense against such
unscrupulous acts."
In fiscal 2011 the state received 6,205 reports of suspected
elder financial abuse and exploitation, which accounts for 57
percent of all reported cases of abuse against elders. Only 2.2
percent of those cases were reported by banks and other
financial institutions. The new training is important to help
employees of financial institutions identify and report elder
financial abuse where it often happens, thus increasing the
chances of protecting older adults.
Since the training began, several scams have been uncovered
and prevented. A credit union employee in southwest Illinois
noticed that one of her customers -- who purchased money orders
every month to pay her bills -- found that her phone and cable
bills averaged $600 per month. The customer told her that in
some months there wasn't enough money for food or prescription
drugs she needed and that her son and grandson were living with
her and she was paying all of their expenses.
The credit union employee reached out to a hotline on elder
abuse to describe the situation. When the customer came in to
purchase her money orders the next month, she told the credit
union employee: "A nice lady called me and helped me lower the
cost of our phone and cable bill from $600 a month to less than
$100 per month." The customer also volunteered that now her son
was contributing to the household expenses.
Several centers dealing with elder abuse have reported on
what appears to be a widespread effort to exploit vulnerable
seniors.
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One bank employee, who had recently completed her training,
reported the following: "An employee heard a customer asking a
teller for $2,900 to be transferred to Western Union. The
customer had gotten a call, supposedly from his ‘grandson,' that
he was in jail in Mexico and needed the money. A bank employee
then spoke to the customer privately. She asked the customer to
call his grandson's family and find out if the story could be
true. The customer was angry when he left the bank, but came
back the next morning and thanked the bank because the story
wasn't true and he was saved the money."
That employee and thousands of other employees of financial
institutions have been trained to identify the indicators of
financial exploitation, as well as how to report exploitation.
The warning signs include sudden changes in bank accounts or
banking practices; the inclusion of additional names on a
senior's bank signature card; the unauthorized withdrawal of the
victim's funds, using the victim's ATM or credit card; and
abrupt changes in a will or other financial documents.
To learn the warning signs of elder abuse, including
financial exploitation, go to the Illinois Department on Aging
website,
http://www.state.il.us/aging/. Anyone who suspects that
an older adult is being mistreated should call the department's
24-hour Elder Abuse Hotline, 1-866-800-1409.
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and
Illinois
Department on Aging file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
Past related article
in LDN
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