Taking a New Approach on an Annual Observance

As April ushers in the start of another National Financial Literacy Month, I’m prompted to wonder how will this observance be any different from previous years? After all, the number of people and amount of money lost to reported financial scams and fraud continues to skyrocket year after year. On last report, con artists robbed more than $12.5 billion from Americans in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and you can bet those losses are certain to escalate much further unless something drastic happens. 

Let me be clear. While I may appear to be calling attention only to scams and fraud and the financial education required to help mitigate losses associated with these crimes, I’m sure there are many others calling for an increase in education on securing a first mortgage, how to develop and live on a budget, how to save for retirement, and how to invest wisely. So let me be clear. All those topics are equally as important, however there is a difference.

While education on those topics will primarily help to influence and improve one’s ability to pursue and achieve a dream of owning a home or building a nest egg, scam prevention education on the other hand helps to ward off efforts intended to undermine and eliminate the possibility of ever achieving those wonderful dreams.

For quite a while now, I’ve been calling on credit unions and banks to work together, cooperatively, to do more to confront financial scams and fraud. The way I see it, consumers already trust their financial institution, demonstrated by a willingness to deposit their earnings and life savings with it for safekeeping. Given that level of trust and finding themselves at the front lines in the battle to safeguard deposits along with their own balance sheet and insurance funds, credit unions and banks appear to be best positioned to educate and influence consumers on their knowledge of scam prevention. If not them then who? Lawmakers? Regulators? But wouldn’t they take their cues on this topic from credit unions and banks?

Remember, if we continue to do what we’ve been doing thus far, the same thing over and over again, then we can only expect the same results – skyrocketing losses. That’s why I maintain we need to think differently and do more! We need to better understand the mind of the victim being manipulated. We need to improve the way we respond to victims seeking withdrawals destined only for the scammer’s wallet.

The time has come! Let’s make this year’s observance of National Financial Literacy Month finally count. By doing more; by thinking differently; and by first educating and training ourselves on this topic before others, will we only then become better empowered to achieve the kinds of results – lower financial losses to scams – that we’ve been hoping for all these years.