Pub. 9 2020 Issue 1

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 14 SEEING, SAYING AND DOING SOMETHING ABOUT ELDER FRAUD By Rob Nichols, President & CEO, American Bankers Association O dds are your bank has a story that illustrates a disturbing trend affecting older Americans today. Perhaps one of your tellers noticed a regular customer suddenly showing up at the bank with a new “best friend.” Or staff detected unusual activity in an elderly customer’s account, such as large withdrawals or unpaid bills. These are two of several red flags that can signal elder financial abuse, and banks are increasingly noticing — and reporting — such cases. According to a FinCEN analysis released in December, suspicious activity reports related to elder financial exploitation have increased dramatically in recent years, jumping from 2,000 filings in October 2013 to nearly 7,500 filings in August 2019. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Report issued in February 2019 offers similar statistics and adds that 80% of SARs related to elder financial exploitation involved a monetary loss to older adults and/or the institution that filed. The average loss for customers was $34,200, while the average loss to institutions filing was $16,700.