Senior New Yorkers sometimes lose control over their bank accounts, pension checks, even the deed to their property before anybody realizes what’s going on. During an Elder Abuse Awareness Month this past June, Popular Bank and the New York City Department for the Aging put together a series of events to raise awareness about financial abuse and the kinds of resources people can turn to to fight it.
The events were organized to commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which takes place annually on June 15. The series was part of a new partnership between NYC Aging’s SAFE Initiative and Popular Bank, which helps the bank train its staff to recognize signs of elder abuse and know how to respond to it.
NYC Aging Commissioner Dr. Lisa Scott-McKenzie said the June events helped older adults understand the signs of abuse.
“All of the events were very well-received by all of our older adults, but also I think it helped some of them to pinpoint areas where they may have been manipulated or exploited — that they might not have realized that that was abuse and a crime,” Scott-McKenzie said.
Older New Yorkers can be targeted for financial abuse by strangers, caregivers, and sometimes by relatives and trusted friends. They may not report the abuse because they’re too embarrassed or might be afraid that their loved one could get in serious trouble.
Scott-McKenzie said at least two people spoke up during the events and quietly asked for help.
“Most of the cases occur with people that they know, they trust, and they love, so often, they won’t report. They’re worried more so about their loved ones than they are about themselves, and so you have to be very, very careful how you broach the subject, because sometimes an older adult will come up to you and report these cases, and that actual [abuser] may be in the same room.”
David Lee, senior vice president of retail banking at Popular Bank, told the AmNews that the bank’s staff are trained to slow down any suspect transactions and speak with the customer privately, when possible, to figure out whether the customer understands and is on board with what is happening, and then take steps to protect the account.
“When there are ever instances that we feel that there might be potential harm to our older customers’ accounts, where you have a loved one that might be potentially accessing their funds without the older client (knowing about it), what we’ve been trained to do is get the individual alone so that we could have a direct conversation with our customer to make them feel very comfortable,” Lee said. “It’s a very traumatizing experience.”
Local banks like Popular can often spot the signs of elder abuse before authorities, when they see things like changes in customers’ withdrawal habits or known customers showing up at the bank with new people. Lee said the bank can block debits, close or open accounts, and help redirect Social Security or pension payments with customer consent. “But the first and foremost thing that we are trained to do is to ensure that we isolate the customer, have a thoughtful conversation with them, assess what they want to do about their transactions, and then take appropriate action with the customer’s buy-in because that’s the key: We need for the customer to allow us to do these actions.”
Cognitive concerns can affect elders
When bank employees think that an older customer might have memory loss, Lee said banking staff can’t diagnose the problem, but they can compare what they are seeing with what they know about a customer’s past habits.
“Whenever it comes up, and one of our team members brings it to their supervisor or manager, they’ll ask that question, like, ‘Hey, do they seem that they’re in the right frame? Are they speaking coherently like they were before? Who knows the customer?’ Whenever we feel there might be a potential challenge with capacity, that’s why it’s so important to isolate the customer and ask if [a person with them] is the actual trusted contact.”
Scott-McKenzie said that is why social connection is itself a protective tool. “That’s socialization,” she said, “for the older adult not to remain isolated, become a part of an older adult center, become part of a caregiver’s program, because the more that you’re around other individuals, they too may notice that there’s been a change in the individual — maybe their memory is lapsing somewhat, or their personality has changed, or their routines are changing, maybe they’re unkempt where this was a person [who] was always very well-groomed. Socialization is important.”
Aging Connect, the NYC Department of Aging’s information and referral contact center, can put seniors and families in touch with elder justice programs, legal services, crime prevention supports, counseling, safety planning, court navigation help, shelter referrals, case assistance, caregiver programs, older adult centers, and other borough-based services. Call 212-AGING-NYC, or 212-244-6469.
