June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month – specifically June 15
is the day! There are so many areas
where our elderly family and friends can be abused or mistreated. In the state of Ohio, your financial
institution is one of many mandatory reporters.
What that means is, we are to be looking out for your best
interests. If we suspect someone may be
mistreating you or taking advantage of you, we are obligated to report that.
Our staff truly cares for our members of any age, but the
elderly are often targeted by scammers.
Your best interest is always at the forefront of our interactions with
you. Sometimes we may ask questions, and
you find yourself wondering – why? It is
because our front-line staff is trained to be on the lookout for possible scams
or fraudulent transactions. Again – they
do this to protect you. We are the last
line of defense when it comes to protecting you from financial losses. We aren’t asking to be nosy, but rather to
protect you. Our elderly members often
live on a fixed income and cannot afford to lose money to any fraudsters.
There are things you can do
to protect yourself.
1)
Have a trusted individual on your account as a
joint owner, or possibly assign someone as a Power of Attorney. We have forms you can complete for Power of
Attorney over your account in house!
2)
If you aren’t sure about a transaction or are
being asked to do a transaction by someone, ask for help. Our tellers can assist you and if necessary,
get you through to our fraud specialist.
3)
One scam that we hear of regularly is the
grandchild scam – you get a call from someone claiming to be a grandchild in
trouble – with the plea “don’t tell mom or dad”. Do not agree
to send money and hang up the phone and either call your grandchild or their
parents. You will likely find that the grandchild is right where
they are supposed to be.
4)
Fraudsters may act like they care about you –
but they just want to separate you from your money!
When in doubt – ask your tellers! They are here to help you.