The American Bankers Association Foundation today released seven new videos designed to raise awareness of the top scams targeting older Americans as a part of its Safe Banking for Seniors campaign. The campaign, led by volunteers at banks nationwide, helps older customers, their families and caregivers understand and mitigate the risks of elder fraud and financial exploitation and support those serving as financial caregivers.
The short, animated videos are available to participating banks at no cost to help them educate customers on the most prevalent scams and the red flags they should look out for to protect their financial assets and identities.
“Criminals know that older Americans hold approximately 65% of bank deposits in the U.S. and unfortunately, that concentration of wealth often makes them prime targets for financial exploitation,” said Lindsay Torrico, ABA Foundation executive director. “These videos will bolster bank efforts to safeguard their senior customers and help bank employees, caregivers and family members spot scams before they can do any damage.”
The short films cover the following topics:
- Overview of scams
- Family impostor scams
- Government impostor scams
- Tech support scams
- Money mule scams
- Sweetheart scams
- Lottery scams
To view the scam awareness videos, click here.
The videos complement an existing suite of Safe Banking for Seniors resources designed to help banks inform their customers and communities about avoiding scams, preventing identity theft, understanding powers of attorney, choosing executors and financial caregiving. Curricula for Safe Banking for Seniors are available in both English and Spanish. Bankers registered for ABA Foundation programs receive turnkey resources, real-time customer support, and ready-to-use promotional and communication materials. Again, there is no cost for banks that register to participate in any of the Foundation programs.
The ABA Foundation also offers a free web connection tool, FinEdLink, that can match community groups, senior centers, faith-based ministries, schools and other organizations interested in a financial education lesson with local bank volunteers. Groups may request a free banker-led presentation at aba.com/FinEdLink.
This year, the ABA Foundation’s Safe Banking for Seniors program is generously sponsored by Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Truist.
Interested banks should register at aba.com/FinEd or call 1-800-BANKERS for more information.