Elderly people are often targeted because they tend to have more money sitting idly in their bank accounts, and their cognitive abilities may not be as sharp as they used to be. Sometimes, they’re more vulnerable because they are isolated, physically disabled, suffering from other health problems, or grieving the loss of a loved one. In short, senior citizens may simply not have the ability to pay close attention to their investments, which opens the door to predators.  The Federal Trade Commission released a report to Congress on October 18, 2018, outlining the agency’s comprehensive efforts to protect older consumers in the marketplace from fraud, identity theft, imposter scams, deceptive credit schemes, and other unlawful practices. The CFPB and FinCEN hosted a webinar on June 7, 2018, on their joint memorandum encouraging coordination among financial institutions, law enforcement and adult protective services to protect older Americans from financial exploitation. The webinar focused specifically on the role of Suspicious Activity Reports in assisting law enforcement’s investigation of elder financial exploitation.

Financial institutions can play a key role in detecting, responding to, and preventing EFE because they are often well-positioned to detect when older account holders have been targeted or victimized. Once such threats have been detected, financial institutions should report to law enforcement and the state or local Adult Protective Service agency (APS).

What you will learn in this session about Elder Financial Exploitation:

• The scope of elder financial exploitation and the challenges of preventing fraud targeting senior customer
• Potential red flag indicators of elder financial exploitation from the FinCEN Advisory
• Recognizing and preventing scams
• Protecting accounts of the elderly
• Best practice for reporting elder financial exploitation including BSA and SAR requirements
  • What is required?
  • What should be included in the SAR for EFE?
• Examples of law enforcement use of suspicious activity reports for EFE
• Tips for preventing financial exploitation
• How can suspected financial fraud be reported to APS (Adult Protective Services)?
• How can banks provide information without violating the customer’s privacy?
• How can banks partner with APS and law enforcement?
• Elder financial exploitation and risk management
• Elder financial exploitation resources

Who Should Attend? This informative session will help Frontline employees, tellers, branch managers, compliance officers, security officers, and BSA officers gain an understanding of the scope of elder financial abuse and the actions required to combat this growing criminal activity.