Major US Banks Fail to Prevent Fraud Involving 85-Year-Old Woman’s Savings

Major US banks including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo failed to detect a fraud that wiped out the savings of 85-year-old assistant Annette Manes, according to a report by Bloomberg. Posing as employees of JP Morgan and the US government, the fraudsters convinced Manes to participate in a sting operation to identify criminal associates. Over the course of 279 days, he withdrew $1.4 million from his various accounts at the banks. Despite suspicious transactions, the banks failed to respond in time. The fraud was only discovered when Manes’ son was contacted by adult support services. The FBI reported that crimes against the elderly have increased by 255 percent in the past three years, with $3.4 billion stolen during that period.