Vulnerable adults and the elderly lose billions of dollars every year to scam artists. Over $1 billion was lost in 2021 to romance scams alone, according to a 2022 consumer protection report from the Federal Trade Commission. Even sadder? Victims could face charges of financial fraud.

Garland Prejean, CSE Federal Credit Union security officer, explained the “Romance Money Mule” scam at the Tuesday Kiwanis Club of Lake Charles meeting.

“People send money to people they don’t know all the time,” he said, explaining it happens more often than he and most people can imagine. In the Romance Money Mule scam, the elderly or vulnerable adult might receive money from someone they have never met, someone who has gained their affection and trust online, someone they hope to one day meet and even marry.

Prejean cautioned that these cyber sweethearts are seldom who or what they say they are. Nor do they look like the photo they may have shared.

Recently, he had to intervene when a deposit into a CSE member’s account sent up a red flag. The CSE member told Prejean he had received money from “his girlfriend,” a woman he met online, but never in person. The CSE member’s online girlfriend sent him $14,000, and told him he could keep $4,000 and to send $10,000 back.

Checks from these online girlfriends and boyfriends can be fake, proceeds might be from a previous scam or a way to get help to move/launder stolen money. Sometimes the request is to send the money back in the form of gift cards.

Taking part in such a scam could result in charges. The main perpetrator is always difficult to locate, and the victim can be left holding the bag.

“The way ACH (which stands for automatic clearing house and refers to the network that processes electronic financial transactions) works is that if you help to originate an ACH and it’s fraudulent, that bank can take it back,” Prejean said.

Guard the heart, but guard those passwords even closer

“Never give out your password. CSE will never call you and ask you for your password,” Prejean said. “We will never ask you for your account number or your social security number. We have that information.”

Other tips to avoid online scams are as follows

Don’t give out personal information. Scam artists might use social media profiles to figure out passwords and the answer to certain security questions in the password reset tools. Lock down privacy settings and avoid posting birthdays, addresses, mother’s maiden name, etc.

Be wary of requests to connect from people you may not know. Never provide personal information in response to an email, a pop-up or a website you’ve linked to from an email or web page.

Don’t keep your computer running all the time. Doing so will make it more prone to spyware and other attacks from hackers and identity thieves.

Prejean said CSE has tightened up its wire transfer process to thwart certain types of wire scams. Plus, tellers are trained to notice a change in banking behavior in ways that could prevent the elderly and vulnerable from becoming financially exploited.

According to Louisiana laws, an elderly person is a person who is 60 or older. This age can vary from state to state. Vulnerable adult is used to describe an adult with cognitive difficulties.

“Tellers compare past banking patterns of these member populations with an appearance of new, changed behavior,” Prejean said. “Has a member increased the amount of his or her cash withdrawal? Are they giving the money to someone? Are they all of a sudden interested in using Venmo or using online banking? Are they accompanied by a stranger, and does that stranger want to do all the talking for the account holder/member?”

Prejean said financial exploitation is not always at the hand of a stranger.

“We received a phone call from a member who said that her son would not give her access to her bank account, so we investigated,” he said.

The son and his wife had used the account to make large purchases without consulting the CSE member. (Even though a family member might have Power of Attorney, he or she is still obligated to keep finances separate and to only spend funds in the Principal’s best interest.)

Stay in touch with elderly family members to stay on top of what is happening with online activity and finances, Prejean recommended. If elder financial abuse is suspected, report suspicions to the individual’s banking institution and/or call Elderly Protective Services at 1-833-577-6532 or 1-225-342-0144.