AARP's BankSafe Initiative helps financial institutions better meet consumers’ financial needs and safeguard their assets. The initiative focuses on four key areas:
- Preventing financial exploitation
- Empowering family caregivers
- Helping those with dementia
- Making banking tools and environments easier to access
Prevention of financial exploitation is critical to AARP’s mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. BankSafe meets this need by conducting research into consumer insights, facilitating partnerships between the aging network and financial institutions, and developing the innovative BankSafe training platform to help financial professionals identify and stop suspected exploitation.
Financial Institutions can access training tools on AARP's website.
The ICBA has Check Fraud resource guides for their members. Download the guides from the links below.
Check Fraud: A Practical Guide to Altered, Forged, and Counterfeit Checks for Community Bankers
This guide is a resource to help ICBA members both minimize the incidents of check fraud related to altered, forged, and counterfeit checks and take appropriate steps to recover funds or otherwise minimize loss, when it does occur.
Check Fraud: Detection Mechanisms
Understand the potential technology solutions and operational mechanisms that are available to community banks to detect instances of check fraud. This is a reference for community banks to evaluate tools and leverage internal practices to identify and prevent check fraud.
The FCC scam glossary describes robocall scams, spoofing scams and related consumer fraud, which the FCC tracks through complaints filed by consumers, news reports, and notices from other government agencies, consumer groups and industry sources. Glossary entries include links to more detailed information posted in the Consumer Help Center and to trusted external sources. Access the scam glossary.
This page advises how to avoid and report scams as well as information on common scams. Access the FTC Consumer Information on Scams.
ICBA CRA Solutions
An Preferred Partner of NH Bankers, ICBA CRA Solutions provides CRA Education & Training, CRA Support Services, the CRA Collaborative Peer Group, and CRA qualified loans, investments, and grants. Since our inception in 2000, we have helped banks across the country earn meaningful CRA credit through elder financial abuse prevention programs—all with flexible funding options to make it simple for banks to get involved. Access ICBA CRA Solutions page.
The American Bankers Association (ABA) has released this guide to help your bank with elder fraud.
This resource was designed to support banks in developing relationships with law enforcement and adult protective services (APS) to combat elder financial exploitation (EFE). It is largely set up as a number of frequently asked questions to help guide the reader to understand:
• the state of elder financial exploitation today,
• the role of APS and law enforcement,
• reporting EFE, and
• cultivating partnerships with key community players.
Safe Banking for Seniors is a national campaign brought to you by the American Bankers Association (ABA) that helps older customers and their financial caregivers understand and mitigate the risks of fraud and financial abuse. Financial abuse against older Americans can take many forms, from illegal debits, to third-party scams and even unauthorized withdrawals by an approved caregiver. And with the share of the U.S. population 65 years and over projected to reach 20 percent by 2025, the opportunities to take advantage of these at-risk bank customers become more prevalent—by the minute.
Register for free to receive access to exclusive Safe Banking for Seniors resources, which contain presentation lessons, participant activities, communication tools and promotional materials. Visit Safe Banking for Seniors for more information.
Download this guide for banks for assistance in partnering with law enforcement and adult protective services.
NH Dept of Justice - Elder Abuse & Financial Exploitation
The primary responsibility of the Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Unit is to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes involving elderly victims of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation on a statewide basis.
NH Dept of Heath and Human Services - Adult Protection
What to do if you suspect Adult abuse or neglect in New Hampshire.
The mission of New Hampshire Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) is to increase public awareness of financial exploitation with the goal of mitigating risk of exploitation and protecting our state’s vulnerable populations. Visit StayConnectedNH for resources to keep New Hampshire's vulnerable population connected and safe.
The ABA Foundation in collaboration with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released an infographic on the growing threat of online dating scams. According to the FBI, over $220 million was lost in 2016 to online romance scam artists.
Social media networks and dating websites have become increasingly popular tools for meeting and communicating. Unfortunately, fraudsters have capitalized on this trend and often create fake profiles to lure in victims, establish romantic relationships and eventually, extort money. Older Americans in particular have been targeted by this type of scam.
The infographic identifies common signs of an online dating scam and offers consumers advice on how to avoid falling victim.
New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation Romance Scam Warning
The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation has issued a press release regarding romance scams, which unfortunately are becoming more prevalent in New Hampshire and across the country.
ABA Training for Elder Financial Abuse
This ABA course explains the forms of financial abuse and how to recognize telemarketing schemes and online financial abuse. It also explores the characteristics of seniors that make them targets of financial abuse, as well as analyzes the state and federal laws concerning elder financial abuse and how banks play a significant role in recognizing victimized seniors.