TIP: The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) Office for Older Americans offers free resources that may be helpful to educate your staff and members about elder financial exploitation. The materials include reports, advisories, and free consumer education tools.
Consumer education tools
- Credit unions can make available CFPB’s Managing Someone Else’s Money guides to help financial caregivers understand their role as agent under a power of attorney, a guardian or conservator, trustee, Social Security representative payee or Veterans Affairs fiduciary.
- Staff can volunteer to share the Money Smart for Older Adults program with older members and caregivers to help them make informed financial decisions and protect against scams. The program includes an Instructor Guide, PowerPoint slides, and a take-home Resource Guide.
- Staff can use CFPB’s fraud prevention posters, activity sheets, and other resources to help older members and their families avoid common scams.
- Credit unions can make available CFPB’s consumer advisory which features tips on how older adults can work together with their credit union to prevent fraud.
Reports and advisories
- CFPB recently released an advisory that shares recommendations for financial institutions to help them prevent financial exploitation of older account holders with alerts to a trusted contact person.
- CFPB also has an accompanying handout for consumers that explains how designating a trusted contact can help account holders protect their money without giving up control over their finances.
- CFPB recently released a data spotlight analyzing trends in elder financial exploitation Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed during the pandemic.
- CFPB’s report, Suspicious Activity Reports on Elder Financial Exploitation: Issues and Trends , contains an analysis of elder financial exploitation SARs, including monetary losses by members and filers and possible next steps for credit unions.
- To support credit unions in their efforts to combat fraud, Reporting of Suspected Elder Financial Exploitation by Financial Institutions provides information about reporting suspected elder financial exploitation based on recent federal and state law changes.
- CFPB’s Advisory and Recommendations and report for financial institutions outline several voluntary ideas to help credit unions with their efforts to prevent elder financial abuse and intervene effectively when it occurs. You can order printed copies of the Advisory and Recommendations for your staff.
Please share these resources with your colleagues, older members, financial caregivers, and anyone else who could benefit. You can download the materials or order printed copies for free in English or Spanish.
To find these resources and more, visit consumerfinance.gov/olderamericans.
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