Consumer fraud is an issue that’s run rampant for too long. And when it impacts the elderly, it’s heartbreaking. Kathy Stokes—the Director of Fraud Prevention Programs with AARP—is passionate about educating older adults on the risks that fraud represents to their financial security.
Since 2019, she and her team have vastly expanded AARP’s leadership in this space, including the creation of a new victim support program, a multi-year campaign to end the use of gift cards in fraud, and the formation of a national effort to fundamentally transform how our country addresses consumer fraud.
Listen in to learn more about Kathy’s mission to eradicate fraud by educating older adults on what to look out for—and avoid—to protect their financial security.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…
- Learn more about Kathy Stokes [2:55]
- How Kathy became the head of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network [5:22]
- The mission of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network [6:44]
- What is financial crime? [9:07]
- Why isn’t financial crime taken seriously? [12:12]
- Check out “Financial Planning Made Personal” [13:50]
- How to protect yourself from financial scams [14:26]
- Should you use a monitoring service? [18:01]
- The sad tale of a romance scam 19:10]
- Why the language we use matters [25:01]
- Changing the narrative: Fraud victims are crime victims [27:09]
- What Kathy did today that put her in the right mindset for success [33:56]
What is financial crime? Why isn’t it taken seriously?
One of the most common financial crimes is when someone pretends to be a grandson or granddaughter. These people call early in the morning and say something like “I was just in a terrible car accident. I’m in so much trouble. Can you talk to the lawyer I’m with right now?”
The second person says “I can get him out of jail if you send me ‘x’ amount of dollars.” Of course the grandma/grandpa is going to send the money. Sometimes they use a credit card, or they make them go to a drugstore and put money on gift cards.
These people are criminals, yet older adults blame themselves. Their children say things like “I can’t believe my mom fell for this.” It’s a societal problem. When people lose money at the end of their lives, they still have to put food on their table.
The sad tale of a romance scam
A 68-year-old widowed woman called the Fraud Watch Network hotline. She’d been cut off from her sisters during the pandemic. She was lonely. So when a man sent her a friend request on Facebook, she accepted it.
The man made her believe that he was working for the United Nations as a surgeon in Afghanistan. He was widowed and had young children in boarding school. He built trust with her and she fell in love with him. He talked her into looking at real estate. The end goal was to buy a house together and the kids would move in.
Finally, he was on a flight back to the US. She got a call at 3 am from a lawyer saying he’d been arrested at the airport because someone put drugs in his bag and he needed $20,000 in bail money. She ended up giving him almost $40,000—everything she had.
After that, she couldn’t afford to get her AC unit fixed. She started using a portable unit which caught on fire and burned her home down (with her six foster dogs inside). Now, she’s a Fraud Watch Network speaker who goes around the country telling her story.
The mission of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network
One part of AARP’s mission is educating to build awareness. It’s helping everyone understand the significant risks their assets face because of fraud in this country. If you—or a loved one—have experienced fraud, they’re there to help you with their victim support program. You can call their Fraud Watch Network helpline and speak with someone to understand what happened and the next steps to take.
Three years ago, they launched an online victim support program. If you’ve experienced fraud, you can join free small group sessions on Zoom to address the emotional impact. The emotional impact is far worse than the monetary loss. They also seek to change the narrative about how fraud is talked about.
But what can you do to protect yourself? Kathy offers up some great ideas.
How to protect yourself from financial fraud
We need to talk more about fraud. It’s all about developing hyper-awareness through education. And the more it’s part of daily conversation, the more top-of-mind it is. There are a few things you can do to make yourself less vulnerable to fraud.
- Don’t take shortcuts with passwords: Kathy likes to write her passwords in notes on her phone and encrypts the note.
- Freeze your credit with Transunion, Experian, and Equifax until you need to run your credit. That means no one can steal your identity and open an account in your name. It’s free and you can lift it at any time.
- Links sent via text and email are likely fraud. Don’t click on them.
- Online ads are a frequent source of scams. Don’t click on them.
If you’ve learned about a specific scam, you’re 80% less likely to engage with it because you see it coming. The more we talk about what we learn, the more we help each other.
Resources & People Mentioned
- AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline: 877-908-3360
- Blame and Shame in the Context of Financial Fraud
- Check out “Financial Planning Made Personal”
- IRS Phone Scam, Episode #94
Connect with Kathy Stokes
Bio
Kathy Stokes is a nationally recognized leader in the consumer fraud arena. As Director of Fraud Prevention Programs with AARP, Kathy leads AARP’s social mission work to educate older adults on the risks that fraud represents to their financial security. Since 2019, she and her team have vastly expanded AARP’s leadership in this space, including the creation of a new victim support program, a multi-year campaign to end the use of gift cards in fraud, and the formation of a national effort to fundamentally transform how our country addresses consumer fraud. Kathy currently serves on the advisory council to the Board of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators and on the advisory council to the Senior Issues and Diminished Capacity Committee of the North American Securities Administrators Association.
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