WEBSTER, N.Y. – One of the most important lessons in Monroe County today was about one of the biggest crimes in America: elder financial fraud.

Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean attended a meeting directly related to one of his investigations about an 83-year-old woman in Webster whose bank account was hacked when her computer was compromised. The scammers made so many withdrawals that the woman lost $400,000 in four months, and not one of the transactions was flagged or stopped by the bank.

Darlene Gropp read off the withdrawals from her mother’s ESL bank account: “$1,970 … $6,259 … $7,689.” Between January and February, there were 76 fraudulent transactions, all five-figure amounts, and not one was stopped.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “Big withdrawals.”

Darlene Gropp, daughter: “Big withdrawals, yes.”

Julie Willmes, daughter: “She called me up on a Friday afternoon and I said – what? I thought she was telling me how much money they had versus how much money they took.”

Dan Lyon, the Fraud and Scam Program Manager at Lifespan, is working to help Darlene and Julie’s mother. When Brean showed him the transaction records, Lyon responded: “Victimization.”

On Tuesday, Lyon warned dozens of people in Webster about the fraud they face. A report by AARP says more than $28 billion is stolen from Americans over the age of 60 every year.

Berkeley Brean: “I can’t believe that those five-figure withdrawals over a short period of time weren’t flagged to the point where the bank at least stopped them or put a hold on them.”

Dan Lyon: “I’ve got other banking institutions that have done similar.”

Lyon says the banks believe it’s the customers’ money, not theirs. “So the bank may ask a question or two, but if you want your money they’re going to release it,” Lyon said.

ESL told Brean its security system looks for suspicious patterns but no specific amount withdrawn triggers an all-stop. Darlene and Julie believe three transactions totaling more than $12,000 in two days is pretty suspicious.

Berkeley Brean: “What gets the biggest reaction in your presentations?”

Dan Lyon: “The volume of monies lost by a man or woman — when I state six figures, there’s a lot of open mouths and gasps.”

Berkeley Brean: “When you do these presentations, what shocks you?”

Dan Lyon: “The people who walk up to me afterwards as you saw here today and quietly whisper in my ear, ‘that happened to me.'”

Lyon thinks there should be what he calls an “indemnity clause.” If a transaction is big enough, make the account holder sign off on it in person and get the bank manager involved.

News10NBC just learned about an idea that would have protected the 83-year-old victim. It was in the state’s proposed budget but got removed during negotiations in the spring. The provision would allow banks to put a hold on a withdrawal if the teller suspected the account holder was getting scammed.

AARP is pressing the governor and lawmakers to get the protection in the budget next year. They’re talking to banks, too.

Berkeley Brean: “Are they on board with this?”

Kristen McManus, AARP: “Yes and I think they want legislation like this to give them a safe harbor from liability if they need to put a hold on a specific transaction to protect the consumer.”

Berkeley Brean: “Willie Sutton famously said when he was asked why he robs banks, he said because that’s where the money is. Do you think that Americans over 60 years old are getting targeted because that’s where the money is?”

Dan Lyon: “Absolutely. Without a question, without a doubt. The wealth of this nation is not held by younger men and women. The wealth of this nation is held by the old adult. That man or woman over age 60. And is clearly why these scammers are targeting older men and women.”

If you get scammed, you can get a little bit of money back. The state’s victim services office will give you $100 for every fraudulent transaction. In the case shown today, that’s $7,600 for 76 withdrawals. You can get help doing this through the victims assistance offices at your police department or the district attorney’s office or with Lifespan.

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