WESTERLY – The Washington Trust Co. is launching an education series aimed at helping older adults and their families prevent financial scams and plan for financial decisions associated with aging, the bank announced Aug. 17.
The Age With Wisdom series will offer sessions on fraud prevention, financial exploitation and planning for future needs in Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut.
Topics will include impersonation and artificial intelligence-enabled scams, warning signs of financial exploitation, protecting personal and financial information, and steps to take when fraud is suspected.
The program will also cover powers of attorney, beneficiary designations, aging-in-place options and coordinating financial decisions with attorneys, accountants and healthcare providers.
Washington Trust said its employees regularly work with older customers and families dealing with suspected fraud, caregiving responsibilities and other financial transitions.
The bank became a verified AARP BankSafe institution earlier this year, a designation focused on training bank employees to identify and respond to signs of elder financial exploitation.
Washington Trust’s efforts to protect a longtime customer from a scam were featured in a February New York Times column about the role of banks in preventing financial exploitation of older adults.
The article detailed how Washington Trust employees spotted suspicious activity and stepped in before the customer lost a significant amount of money.
The first Age With Wisdom session is scheduled for Aug. 20 at 5:30 p.m. at Washington Trust’s Charlestown branch, 4137 Old Post Road. Another session is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. at the Robert Rock Senior Center in East Providence.
Additional sessions are expected to be announced.
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
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