Dianne Bayley: SA – No country for the old, vulnerable

Dianne Bayley shot to prominence on Biznews when she uncovered the trials and tribulations of conwoman Micha McKerr. The 43 year old who specialised in stealing from the elderly, targeted Bayley’s 78 year old father. In her latest submission Bayley doesn’t focus on McKerr but still targets those not looking after the elderly, and in this case the vulnerable. Bayley shares her thoughts on innovation in the banking space, and how it’s become all about profits and not customers. The drive for new products through increased digitisation and less staff, is leaving a segment of the market unaccounted for. And when this segment does become victims of fraud, or the like, there’s no clear path to recovery. Bayley shares her story, and offers a few tips in navigating a South African landscape that’s neither for the elderly nor the vulnerable. – Stuart Lowman

By Dianne Bayley*

As digitalisation continues to alter the global business landscape apace, the race to “innovate” and be first to market with a new product or service seems to be replacing humans with electronics daily.

The banking industry is way up there with the pack leaders, and reports of job losses to “remove duplication and improve efficiency as more clients use the internet and mobile phones to transact” have begun appearing. Visit your bank, and you’ll likely see a reception area manned by one person who appears to be the lone human in the building. If you need to see a human, one will be made available to you.

elderly_vulnerable

Disruption of this sort in the banking arena has left at least two massive sectors of the South African population in the dust: One is the lower literacy/numeracy sector, with limited “pay-as-you-go” funds to spend on “press 1 for personal banking, press 2 for home loans, etc”. The other is the older, non-digitally-savvy sector that has been supporting these banks, insurance companies, medical aid companies and other organisations for 50 years. (Yes, people are living longer now and still need all these facilities.)

‘Disruption’ will come full circle

My prediction, as a lay-person who has had to deal with all of these companies myself and/or on behalf of my elderly father who was conned out of his life savings is this: In just a few years, true “disruption” in all of these industries will be “bringing back the human element”. Because there isn’t a button to press for “a 78-year-old man was conned”, nor one for “how do you allow someone to draw R18 000 out of an account that had a R5 000 limit on it in one night?”

While these blue chip companies are steeling themselves against ever-smarter hackers by employing the best the cybersecurity business can offer, the physical front door is wide open for con artists around the globe. According to the US National Council on Aging in Arlington, Virginia, “Financial scams targeting seniors have become so prevalent that they’re now considered ‘the crime of the 21st century’. Financial scams also often go unreported or can be difficult to prosecute, so they’re considered a ‘low-risk’ crime. However, they’re devastating to many older adults and can leave them in a very vulnerable position with little time to recoup their losses.”

Know how sometimes – now that you’ve reached 50 – you walk into the kitchen and forget what you went there for? That gets worse as you get older and, by age 78, things are fuzzier than they’ve ever been . . . but you are still expected to be able to deal with new systems, procedures, laws – with little person-to-person assistance from the companies that implement them.

How the con artists win

cyber securityI will not mention company names here as, having received notes from at least 20 individuals and organisations who had the misfortune of coming into contact with the same conwoman we did, no single bank, insurance company or court of law is exempt from the red tape foisted on the person/organisation who needs assistance. But here’s a little of the “red tape” you’ll go through if you are the family member of someone conned out of their banked money:

First, if you are fortunate enough to have a phone with lots of air time and/or a computer that will tell you how to contact your bank’s fraud division, you will likely get hold of someone willing to help. Thereafter, however, you’d best be able to send e-mails, make phone calls, go to the bank and get statements (if you have banking power of attorney, which is not the same as overall power of attorney), go through the statements with an individual at the bank, scan them, and send them to the fraud division. Sorry if you’re part of the massive group of South Africans who can’t spend too much time on the phone, or don’t have daily access to e-mails or a scanner. Or a car to get to the bank.

Weeks can go by with no communication from your bank – not even an acknowledgement of receipt of your email or statements/scans. In the meantime, you are sitting in a courtroom week by week, where the previously-convicted criminal’s case is being heard. She can somehow afford an advocate; you have the public prosecutor who has strongly recommended jail time, since this woman was given a “five year suspended sentence” three years ago for the same crime and others.

The bank is suggesting that they are blameless – while “someone” was able to draw enormous amounts of money over the daily (and monthly) limit on the account at casinos at 2am, where their 78-year-old client has never been; even when he was a sprightly new customer of the bank 40 years ago. Apparently, no “red flags” are raised when an elderly client’s movement change from “don’t go out after three in the afternoon” to “drawing money at a casino 20kms from my home well after midnight”. (There’s an opportunity for a great app, right there . . .)

Read also: Why are global companies not investing in cybersecurity?

The elderly gent cannot remember if or when his wallet was taken from his home, but it was returned after a couple days with what he swears to a police Colonel was “all my cards” plus cash. Because you still think honesty pays, you tell the bank all of this – and they quickly suggest you speak to your insurance company because, not their problem if the wallet was stolen, even though the ATM card is in it on its return. Note here that the bank may be 100% within the law to say this.

So, you approach your insurance company: In another incident perpetrated by the same conwoman, the elderly man who was robbed of all his household goods was told “there was no sign of forced entry, we don’t have to pay”. After paying premiums for over 50 years? What a deal! Economists can work out what 50 years of premiums put into a fixed deposit account would yield today and determine whether it was worth being “insured”. (Note that the insurance company, too, is correct here according to the law and the fine print in their contract.)

Then you go back to court again for sentencing, and the prosecutor is not the same one you’ve had all along and appears unable to pronounce the correct name of the accused, who has already owned up to stealing the old man’s life savings, as well as stealing from a large food and clothing store. You’d think a “suspended sentence” automatically becomes a “jail sentence”. You’d be wrong in this case. The magistrate found conwoman guilty and handed down a sentence of three years house arrest. No restitution was ordered, even though the convicted women could, apparently, afford an advocate and a rehabilitation clinic after the trial.

hospital computer hackers

Conning vs cybercrime

Here are some of the things your bank and/or insurance company does not take into account when one of their customers gets “conned” as opposed to “hacked”:

  • If your bank account has been hacked, and you can prove you didn’t “follow any links” online or were not in Outer Mongolia when a gym membership was taken out in your name there, your lending institution is likely to pay back the money.
  • If you’re conned, your path is littered with obstacles, the greatest of which being complete ignorance by big business about how con artists operate, and entirely lawful abdication of any financial responsibility: They are called “artists” because they’re good enough to know how to watch an elderly or less-literate/numerate person innocently putting their pin number into an ATM, but the law protects the banks.
  • Con artists do not break into homes when they have been introduced by friends or family and are allowed in by elderly or trusting people – hence, no sign of forced entry when they come back with a spare back door key they had made.
  • Con artists are friendly, personable, “I’m on your side” kinda people; which is how they manage to rob the vulnerable (“Let me help you with that card, ATM’s are so confusing these days”); the elderly (“Of course I’ll feed your cat while you’re away – just give me your keys”); the innocent (“Please may I borrow your laptop for a presentation I have to get done urgently?”).

So, here’s what I learned over a period of about five or more months from when the crime was first discovered until now, and from the many who engaged on social media to report what the very same person had done to them:

  • You can report the crime to the police, but don’t expect that it will necessarily be followed up. Go to the police station often and ensure that criminal charges are indeed brought against the accused;
  • “Suspended sentence” may not automatically mean the criminal will go to jail, even if the police tell you there are other warrants out for that person’s arrest. Make sure you speak to the prosecutor and even show evidence of previous convictions so that it is clear to the entire Court that this person has a suspended sentence;
  • Have good financial or legal firm take care of any elderly person’s money – they can deal with the bank and it appears you’re far safer than having even a few thousand in your own accounts; and
  • Do not “lend” anything (electronic equipment, jewellery for “fashion shoots”, money, cars) to a “friend/daughter of a friend” as it is generally considered by the police to have been “handed over” to them if there is no account of the loan in writing.

Even while banks, insurance companies and other lenders or service providers gear up for growing numbers of cyberattacks, they also appear to me to be gearing down on real human beings. Unless you are fully familiar with how digitalisation has changed the way your original services worked, get a trusted financial or legal advisor to assist with all matters of finance, insurance, medical aid and more.

If you, like many of us, have a “pay-as-you-go” lifestyle, I have no idea what to tell you, other than South Africa truly is no country for the elderly or the vulnerable, no matter how well corporates tell you they’ll take care of your well-being.

  • Dianne Bayley is a writer and social media manager from Johannesburg. Her writing includes travel, health & wellness, marketing, branding, environment and, most recently, attempts to protect the elderly from predators.
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