SmartBanking for Seniors

With the increase in fraud targeting our senior clients, we wanted to take a proactive approach to protecting them from fraud by educating our senior clients. We began our Client Education Seminars — Fraud Education & Prevention program with SmartBanking for Seniors — Protecting Yourself from Fraud in our Tullahoma, TN branch in April. During the seminar we educated our senior clients about current scams targeting senior adults, how scammers find their victims, how to protect their information on socal media to avoid becoming a victim, and steps to take if they become a victim. We tried to create a safe space so our clients felt comfortable being active participants, sharing their experiences, and asking questions so they could fully understand the material. The Tullahoma seminar was well received and sparked a lively discussion with many questions from the participants. We then held seminars at our East Ridge and Sevierville branches and will travel to Cookeville and Jamestown in August. Along with educating our clients, we also wanted to inform our communities and associates that the best way to stop elder abuse is to prevent it before it starts through education and awareness. We held Fraud Education & Awareness events during Elder Abuse Awareness Month at other venues such as an Alabama CPAs continuing education event in Montgomery, Alabama, a lunch and learn event in Tullahoma, TN and a World Elder Abuse Awareness Day luncheon at the Senior Citizens Center in Morristown, TN. Our associates were equipped with information to help detect and report elder financial abuse. Through articles and videos they learned about behaviors and patterns to look for when they assist our seniors and how to report that information internally, but most importantly- when they see something, say something.