Forbes, Nov. 12, 2019: The Elder Fraud Prevention Program That Works
Financial exploitation of older Americans seems to be getting worse. The Treasury Department reported a 17% increase in the number of cases in 2017 vs. 2016, the latest figures available. And the Center for Financial Services Innovation says at least 20% of older adults have been victims of elder financial fraud. But there’s one piece of encouraging news on this otherwise depressing front.
A new, six-month pilot program known as BankSafe, created by AARP and evaluated by Virginia Tech’s Center for Gerontology, has shown impressive results preventing elder fraud and catching scammers.
More than 1,800 employees at nearly 500 bank and credit union branches from 82 financial institutions in 11 states received the BankSafe training since the program launched in May 2019.
