National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse: DeSantis signs bill to block senior scams, banks will be able to delay suspicious transactions

Monday, June 3, 2024

DeSantis signs bill to block senior scams, banks will be able to delay suspicious transactions

by C. A. Bridges

As of January next year, financial institutions can delay a transaction from a senior citizen if they have a reasonable belief the person is being ripped off, thanks to a new bill Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Tuesday.

SB 556, Protection of Specified Adults, introduced by Senators Darryl Ervin Rouson, D-St. Petersburg and Lauren Book, D-Davie, was designed to stem the increasing waves of scammers preying on the elderly with fake phone calls, text messages and email to trick them into signing over money, personal identification or financial access.

"The Legislature finds that many persons in this state, because of age or disability, are at increased risk of financial exploitation and loss of their assets, funds, investments, and investment accounts," the bill said. "The Legislature further finds that specified adults in this state are at a statistically higher risk of being targeted for financial exploitation, regardless of diminished capacity or other disability, because of their accumulation of substantial assets and wealth compared to younger age groups."

By "specified adults" the law means a person 65 years of age or older, or someone 18 years of age and older who is mentally, emotionally, physically or developmentally impaired and unable to consent.

A sign on Red Bug Lake Road in Oviedo, Florida, warns drivers of elderly scams Sunday, May 26, 2024. C.A. Bridges

Online and phone scams have increased dramatically in the last few years with huge spikes in investment and cryptocurrency scams, tech support scams, personal data breaches and identity theft, romance scams, and more. American seniors over the age of 60 lost more than $3.4 billion in 2023, 11% more than the previous year, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and that's just what was reported.

Florida ranked second-highest in senior fraud last year, with nearly $294 million in losses reported. (First was California, with $643 million.)

What does SB 556, Protection of Specified Adults do?

If someone at a state or federal financial institution (banks, trust companies, credit unions, etc) believes that a person 65 or older or a person incapable of consent is being victimized, they may delay a disbursement or transaction for up to three weeks (15 business days) while they investigate.

The bill requires the financial institution to promptly initiate an internal review and it must notify anyone authorized to transact business on the person's account or any trusted contact listed on the account within three business days. An exception can be made if any of the people with access to the account are the ones the institution suspected of being the ones trying to defraud the victim.

How long does the financial hold last?

The transaction or disbursement will be delayed 15 business days from when the delay was placed, but if the financial institution's investigation finds evidence to support the delay it can be extended up to 30 more business days.

The delay may be shortened or extended at any time by a court and the financial institution may drop the delay at any time.

The bill also requires financial institutions to develop training policies to educate employees on what to look for and create written procedures.

"The Legislature intends to balance the rights of specified adults to direct and control their assets, funds, and investments and to exercise their constitutional rights consistent with due process with the need to provide financial institutions the ability to place narrow, time-limited restrictions on these rights in an effort to decrease specified adults’ risk of loss due to abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation," the bill said.