Elder abuse: How banks help unsuspecting seniors

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) -- Unsuspecting seniors -- scammed out of billions of dollars. It's a growing problem in our state. By 2020 -- it's estimated a quarter of Arizona's population will be elderly.

A reason --The Arizona Attorney General's Office SAFEE (Stop Abuse and Financial Exploitation of Elders) task force held a public awareness campaign on ways banks are stopping this abuse. 

More banks are training tellers because they often get to know their elderly customers -- their routines -- their spending habits. So they can be the first to spot something suspicous.

Case in point.

A teller alerted Tucson Bank Manager Sandi Smithe of a potential scam involving an elderly woman and her gardener. "And she was right at this second window and he was standing next to her and he was instructing her. As she was rifling through her handbag, he said,  'This is the one -- this is the one right here," she said.

It was a $20,000 CD,  a certificate of deposit,  that he wanted her to redeem early and put in her checking account. A red flag -- in banking. So Sandi stepped in. "Oh let me help you with that," she told the elderly woman, "Let's go in my office and chat about this. And I turned around and looked at him and said you need to have a seat right here. Because my objective was I needed to separate these two."  To investigate.

And what she discovered, "He was asking her to buy him furniture, he was asking her to give him money. He was asking for groceries, he was asking her to support his family," she said.

And Sandi noticed something else during the discussion. "She was kind of becoming lucid and then fading -- and then lucid and fading and I realized we have a bigger problem than we thought we had,"  Cognitive decline -- a common issue.

A reason the Arizona Attorney General's Office cracks down on anyone who prey on society's most vunerable -- including those who are the worst offenders -- family members.

"It doesn't matter -- we still make the report to Adult Protective Services," said Sandi Smithe.

So what happened to the gardener? He never got the money and he no longer has contact with the elderly woman.

There's been some concern about banks violating consumer privacy laws, but federal regulators have come up with guidelines for financial institutions.

You can report any suspicious activity  -- call

To report an Emergency Dial 911

Adult Protective Services (APS)-Adult Abuse Hotline:
(877) SOS-ADULT [(877) 767-2385]
TDD: (877) 815-8390
www.azdes.gov/reportadultabuse

Area Agency on Aging - 24-hour Senior HELPLINE:
(602) 264-HELP [(602) 264-4357]

Or call your local police department.

Federal Guidelines on Privacy Laws -- click here.

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Elder abuse: How banks help unsuspecting seniors