CASH WITHDRAWAL ALERT PROGRAM
By: Dennis M. Marlock
If you’re looking for a
low-cost, highly effective, way to reduce the incidence of successfully completed
confidence crimes in your community, then your search has just ended. If your
financial institutions make use of the Cash Withdrawal Alert Forms (listed
below) you can expect to experience an almost immediate 85% decrease in the number
of such crimes that now plaque your community.
When my
partner and I created this program we were skeptical only because, in comparison
with other programs, it appeared too good to be true. Our doubts were quickly put
to rest when we experienced immediate success.
The
program works because the money given to the con artists most often has to be
obtained from the potential victim’s financial institution. This common
denominator provides the best opportunity to allow these potential victims time to
think about what they are doing. As the con artists see it, every one of their
victims are smart enough to know a scam when they see one. The trick is to suspend
their ability to think, even if only for a moment. Once this is accomplished, the
rest is child’s play.
The Cash
Withdrawal Alert program is already being used in numerous cites across America
and abroad. It costs nearly nothing to operate, is over 85% effective, and has
spared countless people the agony of losing their life savings.
PROCEDURE FOR
BANK TELLERS
CONFIDENCE
CRIMES
Any teller confronted by a customer, especially
senior citizen customers, who want to withdraw a substantial amount of money from
their account should:
|
Try to convince the customer to take a cashiers
check or travelers check. |
|
Inquire as to their reason for the cash
withdrawal, especially if this transaction does not adhere to their usual
pattern of banking. |
|
Provide
the customer with a Cash Withdrawal form and ask them to read and sign this
document. Take the time to answer any questions they might have, and be sure
to point out the purpose of the cash withdrawal form. |
|
Call on
one of the senior officers and request that they speak with the customer
concerning this transaction. |
|
Always
activate the surveillance cameras when you suspect that a confidence crime is
in progress. |
|
Ask the
customer, “Did someone from the bank, or someone claiming to have found a lot
of money, ask you to make this transaction?” |
If this
procedure is followed, we may be able to save our valued customers from becoming
the victim of a Confidence crime. We have a responsibility to our customers in
protecting then against these types of crimes whether they are young, middle-aged,
or elderly.
The following is a
copy of a Generic Customer Cash Withdrawal form.
Feel free to alter, duplicate and use this document
CASH
WITHDRAWAL ALERT
!
FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION: BEFORE YOU WITHDRAW
$____________IN CASH FROM YOU’RE ACCOUNT, PLEASE READ AND SIGN THIS FORM.
Consumers lose millions of dollars each year to con artists.
Many scams involve the withdrawal of large amounts of cash from the customer's
account. Before you withdraw money, consider the following:
|
Have you received a call or
met with someone claiming to be an FBI agent, bank examiner, police officer,
detective or financial institution official? Do they want you to withdraw
money to help in an investigation? Have they promised to return or deposit the
money for you?
|
|
Has anyone befriended you,
then asked you to put up "good faith" money in order for you to share
unexpectedly found money or valuables?
|
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may soon be
the victim of a swindle. You may never see your money again. No financial
institution conducts investigations by asking customers for help. No one will
share money with you after getting your "good faith" dollars. However, these are
common stories given by swindlers who mainly target older customers as victims.
REMEMBER, swindlers are nearly always
friendly and have honest faces or pleasant, authoritative voices. This is how they
gain your trust.
I have read and understand the
above statement. By signing this form, I direct this financial institution to
complete my request for cash withdrawal.
Teller's
Signature
Customer's Signature
Financial
Institution Officer's Signature
Date:
|