Responding to the Pandemic-Era Uptick in Financial Exploitation

Financial exploitation impacts 1 in 5 older adults, with the average victim losing $120,000 – often more than what they have in retirement savings at age 50. This results in billions of dollars lost every year. Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and older adults’ adoption of digital platforms, instances of financial exploitation have more than doubled since March 2020 – further underscoring the need for system-wide action. Together with NORC at the University of Chicago, AARP reviewed more than 100 sources to identify shifting trends in the financial exploitation of older adults created by the pandemic. 

In this session, National Director of AARP’s BankSafe Initiative Jilenne Gunther will share insights from the report and offer proven techniques for how financial advisors can adopt organizational-level compliance and risk mitigation strategies to spot and stop exploitation of their clients.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the shifting trends in the financial exploitation of older adults created by the COVID-19 pandemic
2. Identify the increased risk factors and changing tactics that contributed to pandemic-era exploitation
3. Employ effective intervention tools and organizational-level compliance and risk mitigation strategies to address the uptick in exploitation

Handouts are not available for this session.