A credit union's mission: Helping consumers identify scams before they become victims

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Maryann Bills remembers sensing that the woman who walked into the branch of a credit union was already on edge. Her emotions shifted into high gear, and she wanted to withdraw all her money, quickly.

"The police supposedly called her," according to Bills, a Michigan Legacy Credit Union branch manager. "And told her that her daughter was in a car accident. And she needed $5,000 to get her daughter out of jail."

The woman needed five large, but she only had $3,000 in her account.

Bills calmly started asking the credit union member a few more questions: Have you talked to your daughter? Do you know where your daughter is right now? Can you call your daughter?

She did not embarrass the customer or become confrontational by asking: "Hey, don't you know this is a scam?"

"I had her call her daughter," Bills said.

When the daughter didn't answer the phone, Bills said she asked the woman if anyone else would know where her daughter is right now. The customer reached her son-in-law who said he was with his wife, and no, she wasn't in a car accident.

The credit union member did not lose any money.

We're being bombarded with scammers at every turn — phony texts about problems delivering a package, fake warnings about how crooks are already trying to send money out of your bank account, crooks impersonating the IRS, an onslaught of texts about unpaid tolls, and scammers who frighten you into thinking you must act now or face being arrested or deported.

Consumers lost $470 million to scams that start out with a text

Online crooks, con artists and fraudsters snagged a staggering $12.5 billion from unwitting consumers in 2024, setting yet another record, according to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission. That's up from $10 billion in 2023.

Unfortunately, scams can start out fairly innocently. In 2024, consumers reported losing $470 million to scams that began with a text message, according to FTC data. Many times, the messages are connected to a fake package delivery.

More on text scams: How crooks convinced her to put $17,500 into a bitcoin ATM to 'secure' her money

People lost more money per person — a median loss of $1,500 — when they interacted with scammers on the phone, according to the FTC.

The con artists on the other line of that phone call or text often impersonate the local police as well as federal, state and local government agencies.

And crooks catch consumers off guard when they claim to be from the Social Security Administration, Medicare, the U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service.

Sharing alerts and warnings about individual scams, such as this year's uptick in fake texts threatening fines for unpaid tolls, can get many people to hit delete. But often front-line intervention is necessary, too.

Michigan Legacy Credit Union partnered with Wayne State University’s Institute of Gerontology three years ago to launch a program designed to prevent financial abuse. The credit union continues to offer the Institute of Gerontology's financial vulnerability survey to new members ages 50 and older and offer training to its employees.

The goal has been to identify potential fraud and work to prevent exploitation of vulnerable and older adult members.

I sat down in late April with Carma Peters, president and CEO of Michigan Legacy Credit Union, to talk about fraud. She says year-over-year data captured by the credit union's internal auditors confirms that the effort to prevent financial abuse is working, indicating that the number of potential fraud incidents has dropped by more than half from 2022, when the program was first introduced, through 2024.

She credits providing four hours of video training for each new employee and a yearly refresher course for staff members to recognize signs of financial exploitation, as well as cognitive risk factors, which are more likely to occur with older members.

Con artists emotionally manipulate their victims

Con artists for the most part are running a sophisticated operation, and the organization works extremely hard to drive someone into a highly emotional state, a frame of mind where a bank customer might do something they'd never think of doing — such as withdrawing all their money at once because a loved one was in a car accident.

Scammers keep you on the phone as they tell you what to do next. Bank employees say they've even seen customers hide their cellphones in their pockets as money is being withdrawn or transferred when a scammer is involved. The crooks want to stay in control and do not want anyone to intervene. Often, they'll tell potential victims that they cannot tell anyone why they really need all that money.

"They're being emotionally manipulated in one shape or another," Peters said.

Make no mistake, it can be challenging, Peters said, to convince many people that they're about to lose their money to con artists who are pressuring them with a very convincing story.

Sometimes, she said, longtime members who have trusted the credit union for decades will become suddenly unwilling to listen to an employee who is trying to reason with them.

Michigan Legacy Credit Union tellers and employees at the credit union's call center will try to look for any signs of a potential scam, Peters said. Those staffing the contact center, she said, often are able to tell when the caller is nervous or if there are long pauses to provide the information.

When someone suspects a scam, she said, employees are trained to start asking a few more questions: Who else have you talked to about this problem? Have you reached out to a family member?

It's not enough, Peters said, to simply ask someone what they're planning to do with the money. Many times, the financial predator has coached a potential victim into telling a lie, such as saying they need the cash to pay for home repairs or buy a car, when they're withdrawing money at a bank or credit union.

Instead, more time needs to be spent talking about why anyone is asking you for cash. Did you verify who you're dealing with? Did you call the police department, your bank, or the Internal Revenue Service directly to better understand any potential problem?

Who will benefit if you withdraw the money now? How will you benefit? Have you considered that it's possible you'll lose this money if you withdraw it now?

Peters said she would encourage consumers to pick up the phone and try to verify if a request or problem is legitimate. Make an extra call. If someone is claiming that you need to pay a gas or electric bill now, call the utility directly.

Too often, Peters said, fear and panic will take hold after someone has communicated at length with someone who is manipulating them, whether it's a stranger, caregiver or family member who is up to no good.

The credit union shared the story of one member who came through its doors. Someone had called the member and told her that her credit union account had been compromised. The customer said she needed to withdraw $20,000 to protect her money.

After asking some questions, the credit union employee discovered the consumer had already bought four Sephora gift cards at $500 each, totaling $2,000.

The credit union team talked with the woman and ultimately helped her realize that she should not withdraw any money or give the scammers any information that would enable them to access the cash on the gift cards.

Many times, criminals do their homework in advance, studying information that's available through social media posts or elsewhere, to know where you're vulnerable. They can spot if you're desperate for a job. Or if you're lonely and would like to find a friend or romantic partner. Or maybe you've had trouble paying your bills. Or you have grandchildren who just started driving.

Some crooks might have even researched the rules at your credit union or bank for how much cash you can withdraw at a branch or ATM at once. Or whether you need to phone a call center in advance to make a large cash withdrawal. If they plan to send you to deposit money via a bitcoin ATM, the crooks know how to give you directions to the nearest crypto ATM.

Life-changing events, including the loss of a spouse, early onset dementia or another medical issue, can trigger changes in the way someone would react to anyone who is experienced at manipulating people to part with their money.

Peters said the training from Wayne State's Institute of Gerontology has helped credit union employees to better frame probing questions that will get a positive response without making members feel foolish.

"We just want to make sure they're OK and nothing is happening," she said.

Anyone — from a credit union employee to a financial adviser to a friend or family member — who is concerned that someone is being scammed needs to work hard to maintain an open line of communication.

Programs offer ways to prevent fraud

Peter A. Lichtenberg, director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said it's essential that those trying to help don't scold or embarrass someone who is at risk of being a victim of financial manipulation or getting caught up in a scam.

Be patient, he advises, and think of this as a negotiation that could allow someone to understand what might be going on. Remember, he said, the scammer has spent a good deal of time already convincing someone that a situation is real.

Litchtenberg told me the story of some daughters who understood that their mother, now a widow, was caught in a romance scam. At one point, they simply asked their mother: "Mom, just curious, did Dad ever ask you for money when you were dating?"

The lights suddenly came back on. Of course, her husband never asked her for hundreds or thousands of dollars while they were dating.

Many times, Litchtenberg said, older adults are being deceived in very sophisticated ways. Scammers don't just reach out by email or phone calls; they're also texting and reaching out through social media sites.

Lichtenberg has written extensively on financial exploitation in older adults. This year, the Detroit Area Agency on Aging presented Lichtenberg the Paul E. Bridgewater Award in recognition of his 30 years of dedicated service to improving the lives of senior adults.

Lichtenberg, who is a clinical psychologist, said it can be useful to try to put things in context when trying to help someone who is about to be scammed.

It's possible, he said, for a bank employee to share the observation that a customer is going to be carrying around a lot of cash after leaving the bank. What makes it so important that this transaction be done in cash? Almost nothing, after all, is done in cash anymore, he said.

Lichtenberg’s website OlderAdultNestEgg.com offers help for older adults, professionals and friends and family. The financial vulnerability survey used by the credit union for its members is available at the same website and can be used by people who would like to determine their risk level. 

The 17-question survey designed by the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State asks things such as: How often do you worry about financial decisions that you recently made? Have you noticed any money taken from your bank account without your permission? How often do your monthly expenses exceed your regular monthly income? Has a relationship with a family member or friend become strained due to finances as you have gotten older?

The Older Adults Nest Egg site notes that 48 million U.S. adults are 65 or older and worth billions of dollars in income and assets. The pursuit of these "nest eggs" is one of the fastest-growing consumer fraud issues today, the website states.

Those engaging in financial fraud, according to the website, will use various techniques or manipulations over time to gain power over a potential victim. "These can be so subtle that the victim doesn’t realize he or she is being manipulated," according to OlderAdultNestEgg.com.

The Institute of Gerontology has a SAFE program — "Successful Aging thru Financial Empowerment" — which offers counseling at no cost to help repair the damage of financial scams. Among other things, SAFE can help recover money, file police reports and freeze credit reports. The OlderAdultNestEgg site has information about SAFE, which was launched in 2017.

Many times, victims do not get their money back, which is why it's so important to make consumers aware of potential scams and try to prevent someone from handing over money in the first place.

"If somebody wires that money, that's gone," Lichtenberg said.

The same's often true if you send that cash by bitcoin ATM, use the money to buy gift cards, or simply hand over cash to a courier who shows up at the door.

The con artists are cruel, and, unfortunately, everyone needs to take an extra step to try to convince many people that they're about to be scammed out of their cash.

Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X @tompor.