[Noozhawk’s note: Third in a series. Click here for the first article, and click here for the second.]
Financial abuse frauds often start with a simple phone call or email that can trap a person into losing hundreds of thousands of dollars and compromising their personal information.
Elderly residents are even more susceptible to these scams and many fraudsters target older populations, believing seniors to be less tech-savvy and with large retirement funds. The consequences can be life-altering, said James Jefferson, Montecito Bank & Trust’s vice president and manager of enterprise risk.
“A lot of people being targeted are living on fixed income and Social Security, and the (money) they send to a scammer makes the difference between being able to make rent or not,” he told Noozhawk.
Estimates of elder financial abuse and fraud costs to older Americans range from $2.9 billion to $36.5 billion each year. Approximately 15 percent of Santa Barbara’s population is 65 years old and older.
Montecito Bank & Trust partners with local organizations, retirement homes like Casa Dorinda in Montecito and Maravilla in Goleta, and the Elder & Dependent Adult Abuse Prevention Council of Santa Barbara County to give in-person presentations about elder financial abuse and show residents how to identify the different types of scams.
The bank also partners with the District Attorney’s Office for a radio show, Scam Squad, to alert residents of the different scams seen in the area.
Jefferson said the bank’s community outreach program aims to mitigate its own losses as well as protect the community from dangerous scams.
The most common types of elder scams are found through fake telemarketer phone calls, computer pop-ups, email phishing scams and scams aimed directly at seniors, such as grandparent scams, health insurance scams, counterfeit prescription drugs scams, and funeral and cemetery scams.
Jefferson said the bank has seen an increase in technology support scams, which appear as a pop-up warning of a virus on a victim’s computer. A victim can be trapped into paying thousands of dollars for new software and updates, as well as giving scammers access to their personal information, passwords and email.
Fraudsters also ask for payment in the form of gift cards, Jefferson said, because the cards don’t create a paper trail and the fraudster can quickly access the money.
“No legitimate business is going to ask you to pay them via gift card,” he warned.
Scammers also prey on the threat that something bad will happen to a person or their family if they do not hand over their money, which creates a sense of urgency for eldery individuals who want to help their loved ones, Jefferson said.
Brianna Aguilar, Montecito Bank & Trust’s assistant vice president and events and community programs officer, said it is “most heartbreaking” to see clients trapped in kidnapping and romance scams. A romance scam happens when a person pretends to be a friend or romantic interest online in an attempt to con someone out of money.
In one kidnapping scam, a man drove to the U.S. border with $5,000 in ransom money when a fraudster falsely told him a family member had been kidnapped, Aguilar recounted.
“These people are so scared that a loved one is really in danger, or they don’t want to believe that the person they’ve fallen in love with across the country isn’t real,” she explained.
Elder financial abuse doesn’t always come in the form of scams from strangers, however. Most financial abuse comes from an eldery person’s own family members.
These situations are more challenging for the bank to address directly, Jefferson said. Bank associates will speak with their clients if they have concerns, then contact county Adult Protective Services if they believe a client is being financially taken advantage of by a family member or friend.
“Those are the ones that are harder for us to see,” Jefferson said. “The transaction history on the account may be normal, but instead of the senior paying their bills, it’s being funneled somewhere else.”
Aguilar said the bank is ahead of the curve when it comes to cybersecurity and elder abuse, but the scams happen quickly and the decline in financial literacy as people age makes them even more susceptible to threats.
“We’re really trying to do holistic training,” Aguilar said. “So many of our community members, regardless of background, are becoming victims of these horrible scam artists out there.”
Financial Abuse and Fraud Advice
James Jefferson, Montecito Bank & Trust’s vice president and manager of enterprise risk, has some tips to prevent financial abuse and fraud:
» Beware of spoofed telephone calls. Even if you recognize the number, or the call says its coming from your bank, it might be fraudulent. Never give money or your bank account information to unsolicited callers over the phone.
» Be cautious if someone requests payment via gift card. Legitimate companies will never ask you to pay by purchasing a gift card and giving the gift card number and PIN out over the phone or by email.
» Be wary of anything that seems “too good to be true” when it comes to investments or personal connections you make online.
» Secure financial documents, monitor your bank account and set up automatic payments and transaction alerts to stay on top of your banking.
» Be watchful of schemes that prey on the threat of terrible things happening. If someone tells you that you must give them ransom money for your allegedly missing grandchild, verify the information by calling your grandchild or their parents using a phone number you already have for them.
» For family members: plan ahead to take on power of attorney for a loved one who develops cognitive decline or determine a trusted person to do so.
» For family members: Click here for a Senior Resources Directory from the Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens. The directory is designed for seniors and their family members, and includes helpful contact information and tips for everything from health care to scams and identity theft.
— Noozhawk contributing writer Maura Fox can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, and connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.