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New Zealand’s largest national bank has stepped up its game to combat the scamming of the elderly by communicating crucial warning information through their grandchildren.
The initiative, launched over the weekend to coincide with Mother’s Day, aims to help the over-65s become more “security conscious”.
ANZ has asked its customers to take photos of their children holding up a sign with banking safety tips, before adding the photo to their grandparent’s devices as its wallpaper.
The goal is for the wallpaper to serve as a reminder about steps grandparents can take to avoid being scammed in a sentimental way.
Research conducted by ANZ showed more than half of its customer base aged over 65 have either encountered or actually attempted a banking scam.
NZ has asked its customers to take photos of their children holding up a sign with banking safety tips. Photo / Supplied
More than half of those who attempted the scam lost their money, few who experienced the scam reported it and even fewer told their family and friends about what they’d experienced.
With 81 per cent of the age group living in fear about being scammed, according to ANZ’s statistics, the initiative becomes a preventative measure for families.
The bank’s managing director for personal banking, Ben Kelleher, notes the “vulnerable” age group are commonly falling for online hoaxes as scam trends increase across the globe.
“It’s not because they’re targeted more,” he told the Herald.
“But when they do encounter a scam ... they tend to be more trusting, often they’re at home and more open to taking a phone call, so we see that age group as more vulnerable.”
The goal is for the wallpaper to serve as a reminder about steps grandparents can take to avoid being scammed. Photo / Supplied
He noted that its older customer base is experiencing high-stress levels around the topic of scams, they feel “ashamed and embarrassed” when they realise the mistake they’ve made.
An example of this was seen when the Herald reported two weeks ago that a 93-year-old living in rural Canterbury had to be driven to his local bank by a police officer to be given support for explaining his scam experience.
His son explained the man was part of a generation that was “so trusting and really naive in some respects” when it came to the skills of experienced con artists.
“He was led to believe the people on the phone wanted his help catching other scammers... he truly believed he was doing the right thing,” the son said.
The man didn’t share his scamming experience with his family for days, out of the sheer humiliation he felt upon learning of his mistake.
ANZ's Ben Kelleher notes the “vulnerable” age group are commonly falling for online hoaxes as scam trends increase across the globe. Photo / Steven McNicholl
Auckland resident Christian Newman took to Instagram to share his story of how his parents, both aged over 65, had their credit card scammed on three separate occasions, with up to a thousand dollars gone.
Newman said his father is a “very cautious” man when it comes to how he spends his money and what he signs up for, however, his mother could perhaps be considered more easily trusting.
“There’s not enough awareness in place,” said Newman.
“To have people work all their lives and have things taken from them - I’ve had 20 to 30 people message me to say they’d had the same thing happen to them.”
Stories like these are why Kelleher is determined to raise awareness with this age group.
“We’re doing a lot around detection to pick [scams] up better, but prevention is better than detection,” the bank manager said.
“If we can just pause, check what we’re doing, it should be enough to break the chain.”
When asked what the improvements were around the methods of detection, Kelleher laughed whilst saying he didn’t want to give away “all the trade secrets”, but said work was ongoing.
“We do lots of picking up stuff with the systems we have and working with other banks,” he said.
“Also, we’ve got over a million voice prints now for verification - so that means it’s less likely for people to impersonate. There are lots of things we’re doing, but better if we can prevent it altogether.”
