Aligning With the New Interagency Guidelines: How credit unions can combat elder fraud
By Cameron Huddleston, Director of Education and Content, Carefull
December 16, 2024
Credit unions are being encouraged now more than ever to adopt a range of strategies to combat the growing threat of elder financial exploitation by a new Interagency Statement on Elder Financial Exploitation.
In the statement issued December 4, 2024, five federal financial regulatory agencies including the National Credit Union Administration, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and state financial regulators provided examples of risk management and other practices that credit unions can use to identify, prevent and respond to elder financial exploitation. Older adults can be deprived of their life savings through elder financial exploitation, which the agencies define as the illegal use of an older adult’s funds or resources for unauthorized use.
Earlier this year, FinCEN released an analysis of Bank Secrecy Act reports that found that more than $27 billion in reported suspicious activity was linked to elder financial exploitation during a one-year period ending in June 2023. A recently released report from the Federal Trade Commission estimates that losses related to elder fraud over the past year were more than $61 billion when accounting for underreporting of incidents.
With growing pressure on credit unions to safeguard account holders from financial exploitation, they must seek collaborative solutions to enhance protection without bearing the full burden of implementation alone.
A Market-Ready Solution to Support Elder Fraud Prevention
Implementing these practices can take both time and money. However, partnering with a market-ready third-party solution can be an affordable and fast way to address the growing threat of elder financial exploitation.
Carefull partners with credit unions to provide their older account holders with elder-specific monitoring, education, support and a secure trusted contacts system. Carefull recently helped a customer at one of its partners – The Cooperative Bank (TCB) in Boston – catch a series of fraudulent checks, including one written for $40,000. Then, a Carefull Care Agent walked the customer through steps to take to avoid future check fraud. The American Bankers Association Foundation named TCB a Community Commitment Award winner for protecting its older customers with Carefull.
Carefull’s Safeguards Against Elder Financial Exploitation
Edler-specific monitoring: Carefull’s technology analyzes checking, savings, credit card and investment accounts 24/7 and alerts to signs of fraud and a variety of issues that can impact older adults’ finances. Alerts provide action steps for dealing with issues that are being flagged, giving older adults agency to address fraud on their own and rely less on credit union staff for help (freeing up resources for other member support activities).
Trusted contacts infrastructure: Credit unions partnering with Carefull get a built-in option for members to add trusted contacts to their accounts, including an ability to grant varying levels of view-only permissions and share alerts when Carefull spots unusual transactions. This makes it easier for credit unions to ensure that older members’ trusted contacts are informed about any potential suspicious activity.
Integrated consumer education: Through its team of financial journalists and experts, Carefull provides timely articles and Scam Alerts to members in their Carefull dashboard, weekly activity summary emails, and monthly newsletters. This integrated approach to consumer education keeps older members aware of the latest threats to help them avoid becoming victims.
Carefull also includes credit, identity and home title monitoring to provide comprehensive fraud prevention and detection – all backed by $1 million in identity theft insurance.
Adopting the latest best practice recommendations to combat elder fraud can be easier by working with a trusted partner such as Carefull that has a proven track record of helping credit unions empower members to protect themselves.
Connect with Carefull to learn more.
About Carefull
Carefull is a PRT (protect/retain/transfer) service for credit unions purpose-built to protect older members, retain deposits, and bridge to the next generation ahead of wealth transfer. It is the first and only digital platform designed to help credit unions protect the daily finances of seniors while assisting the adult children who often support them.