By Ryan Kaiser, CFE, AVP, Fraud Risk Officer, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust

A grandmother, now living alone after her husband’s passing, answers the phone on a quiet afternoon. The voice on the other line identifies himself as a representative from a collection agency. He talks fast with a stern, forceful tone. He asks for her husband, is dismissive of her loss, and says something about a charge that needs to be paid as soon as possible to avoid legal action. Fearful of making the wrong decision, she provides her debit card information thinking she’d rather be safe than sorry.

While this is a hypothetical, versions of this story are more common as scammers are betting big on being able to defraud the elderly.

Elder financial abuse is a type of fraud which involves the misappropriation of financial resources belonging to an elder. This often occurs within the context of a relationship where there is an expectation of trust and care. In other words, elder financial abuse happens when elderly individuals are preyed upon for financial gain. These schemes can range from simple theft in the form of unauthorized check cashing, to legal document abuse such as fraudulent transfer of Power of Attorney, to more complex schemes such as extortion, government impersonation schemes, and romance scams.

The FBI looks at these cases every year to share the most lucrative scam types and who are among the most vulnerable. The full report can be read here. But here are four key takeaways:

1. The elderly are prime targets for financial criminals. Over 100,000 victims over age 60 reported scams to the IC3 during 2023. Conversely, only 18,000 victims under age 20 reported fraud-related complaints with the IC3.
2. All-in-all, elder fraud is extremely costly to Americans. Elder fraud losses increased by 11% year-over-year in 2023, with $3.4 billion in total losses. The average loss was approximately $34,000 per victim.
3. Technology support scams were the most widely reported scams during 2023, with 17,696 scams reported by individuals over the age of 60. In these schemes, a threat actor will contact an individual, pretending to offer legitimate technical support services in exchange for payment. After tech support scams, the next most reported schemes reported against elders were – data breaches, romance schemes, non-payment / non-delivery-scams, and investment scams. There were over 6,000 of each of these scheme types reported.
4. Investment scams were the most expensive from a victim standpoint during 2023. Over $1.2 billion in losses were reported via investment scam against elders in 2023.

Consider the following best practices to avoid becoming an elder fraud victim -

• Safeguard items such as bank statements, personal identification, checkbooks, or other sensitive personal information and shred any unneeded financial documents.
• Never sign any document you don’t understand; consult a trusted financial advisor or attorney.
• If you receive a threatening phone call from someone you don’t know, do not engage.
• If you receive a call from a ‘family member’ asking for money, disconnect and contact another relative to legitimize the story you’re being told, before taking any other action.
• Never share personal information such as social security numbers, usernames, passwords, account numbers, or other financial information with anyone.
• Never let a third party take remote control of your computer or device on your behalf.

If you feel you have become a victim of a financial elder abuse scheme, consider the following avenues for next steps -

• Consult a neutral, trusted family member about the situation who has your best interests in mind.
• Speak with an attorney, medical doctor, or contact your bank.
• Contact Adult Protective Services or the local police to file a report.

Our team at CNB is ready to answer any questions you may have about current fraud scams. For current articles and resources, visit CNBank.com/Security.

This material provided by Ryan Kaiser.