PFP2606. Inside Today’s Most Dangerous Scams: A CPA’s Guide to Safeguarding Client Wealth.

Financial exploitation is now one of the fastest-growing threats facing older adults, and CPAs are uniquely positioned to detect warning signs before the losses become catastrophic. In 2023 alone, Americans filed 880,000 fraud complaints with losses exceeding $12.5 billion, including $3.4 billion lost by adults over 60 — an 11 percent jump from the prior year. And because only one in 25 cases is ever reported, the real exposure is far greater.

In this session, Robert Powell will walk CPAs through the most urgent fraud and scam trends affecting clients today, from AI-enhanced impersonation and “pig butchering” schemes to tech-support fraud, government impersonation, romance scams, and cryptocurrency deception. Drawing on research from the FBI, SEC, FINRA, NASAA, Wayne State University, and a nationwide adviser survey, he will explain who is most at risk, why these schemes are becoming more sophisticated, and the behavioral, cognitive, and financial factors that make older adults vulnerable.

CPAs will learn practical steps they can take immediately, including how to:
• Spot early indicators of diminished financial decision-making and undue influence.
• Use trusted contacts, financial-vulnerability tools, and structured conversations to assess risk.
• Build firmwide processes to verify suspicious transactions, stop fraudulent transfers, and educate clients.
• Incorporate evidence-based screening tools from OlderAdultNestEgg.com to document concerns and protect both clients and practitioners.
• Create ongoing systems — from newsletters to Google scam alerts — that keep clients informed and safer.

Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to strengthen their role as trusted financial gatekeepers and to better safeguard their clients’ wealth, dignity, and financial independence.