fraud/scam
My elderly mother has given her ss# and signature to strangers. We froze her credit. She has large balances in savings. She does not use online banking. Is she at risk of having somebody access those savings accounts? How do we protect/freeze/? those accounts at her local bank.
Thank you.
Terry Says
Immediately contact the bank and ask them to issue her a new account number.
And, while you’re at it, this is the time to create an estate plan for her, preferably a revocable living trust, that gives you access in case she cannot act. Or else, you should be a co-signer on her bank account.
Set up her utility bills and other regular bills for auto pay. Or have them all redirected to you, and you can pay them out of her account. That’s presumably where her SS checks go, so the money will be in there.
AND yes, set up online banking, so YOU can check in on a regular basis to make sure nothing strange is happening.
