Meghan Fellows, a branch manager for Washington Trust Bank’s Manito location, says she felt compelled to find a way to educate senior citizens about scams targeting their demographic due to the increasing number of instances in which older members came into the branch under concerning circumstances. 

“I’ve had multiple situations where someone has come in on the phone with someone who’s telling them to withdraw $5,000 from their account,” Fellows says. “Sometimes, it’ll be in their purse, and you’ll hear this disembodied voice.”

She says the incidents made her worry that the member had likely already somehow been defrauded. 

To that end, Fellows, along with two colleagues—Keri Reynolds, an assistant manager for the bank’s Hayden branch, and Bryson Smith, manager for the Lincoln Heights branch—launched a Senior Fraud Awareness workshop series last April.

The trio has hosted five workshops during the past year, all within senior living communities in Spokane. Moving forward, Fellows says she hopes to expand their workshops throughout the bank’s geographic footprint. Reynolds, of Hayden, says this month she and assistant branch managers from the banks’ Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls offices will present the workshop at the Hayden Senior Center. 

“Once we get our grounding over here with the Hayden Senior Center, then we’re going to start looking into going to assisted living (communities) in this area,” adds Reynolds, who is on that senior center's board of directors. 

Scams and financial fraud have been on the rise in recent years, with grifters particularly targeting older adults. Data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a federal agency that collects and analyzes white collar crime, shows that U.S. financial institutions reported about $27 billion in elder financial exploitation related to suspicious activity from June 2022 to June 2023. 

The Federal Trade Commission, which is tasked with protecting consumers, reported that in 2023 alone, older adults reported losing over $1.9 billion due to fraud. The FTC estimates that the actual figure could be as high as $61.5 billion, as most fraud isn’t reported, especially by adults over the age of 60.

The FTC lists over 10 scams specifically geared toward seniors, including unwanted calls or text messages, impersonator scams in which a grifter calls to solicit money by pretending to be a government agency representative, tech support, or a family member. Other scams listed are health insurance scams, sweepstakes scams, and home repair scams, among others. 

Fellows says the Senior Fraud Awareness workshop incorporates data from the FTC, a general conversation about frauds and scams, and a question-and-answer portion. The trio also passes out a packet of resources, including how to contact the Elder Fraud and Identity Theft hotlines.

Fellows says the trio launched their first workshop at the Rockwood South Hill Retirement Community. Kim Cederholm, director of activities for Rockwood Retirement Communities, says she coordinated the event because residents and staff alike were worried about scams. 

“So many had heard about scams or experienced it in some way,” Cederholm says.

Reynolds says the presentation has been tweaked over time as the trio learns how to capture the seniors’ attention. Data from the FTC often causes people’s eyes to glaze over, while talking about specific situations and answering questions is where she’s noticed the most engagement. 

“We start rattling off numbers, and we’d start to kind of lose them,” Reynolds says. “They want to know tips on how not to get scammed.” 

For example, while younger people rarely write checks to access cash, seniors remain reliant on checks, she says. The trio redirects seniors from making the check out to “cash” when withdrawing funds, to making the check out to themselves and signing the back. That way, if the check is lost, nobody else can cash it, she says.

“They’ve learned it (write a check) one way; they don’t realize how that opens them up to get scammed,” she says.

Fellows adds they also talk about how to stay safe online, whether they are shopping, using social media platforms, or using mobile payment services, such as Venmo. They pose scenarios that could be scams, such as seeing ads for expensive items that are on sale for deep discounts from unfamiliar websites. Also, they ask them to think critically about one-on-one interactions, such as whether a grandchild truly is going to ask them for money over Facebook because they are in jail and need bail money. 

Reynolds notes that seniors are often vulnerable after the death of a spouse and are targeted through romance scams, often referred to as sweetheart scams. Such scams typically target lonely or isolated adults via social media platforms and gain a person’s trust over an extended period. 

The trio also goes over the pros and cons of using a debit card and a credit card when shopping. With debit cards, the money is removed from a checking account and can be more difficult to recover, whereas using a credit card can provide more safeguards, she says. 

Recently, Reynolds spoke with an 83-year-old woman who was persuaded into purchasing facial moisturizer to remove wrinkles. The woman repeatedly declined but eventually relented after being offered a discount. The woman was charged over $4,000, Reynolds says. 

“We hear that a lot. It’s like they know better to fall for stuff, but then people are relentless,” Reynolds says. “If they (the scammers) think there’s any chance that they can keep talking to this person and they’re going to give in, they’ll do it.”  

Fellows says one of the major obstacles she and her colleagues try to combat when they talk to senior citizens about financial fraud is the shame and guilt associated with sharing their experience with others. 

“That is a huge thing,” Fellows says. “And unfortunately, what it does is it causes people to not report it. What we always tell people is the more you report it, the faster we can hopefully catch them.” 

Reynolds says the sharing of experiences helps others open up. Usually, as the trio begins ticking off these scam scenarios, people will begin to raise their hands, indicating it has happened to them, or they know someone who it has happened to, she says. 

“We go over with them to never be afraid or scared or ashamed to call the bank. That should be your first resource,” she says. “If your account has been affected or you just have general questions, just call us. There’s never any shame.”