The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) reports that its toll-free Securities Helpline for Seniors, approaching its 10th anniversary on April 20, has recovered more than US$9.3 million for investors and generated thousands of enforcement referrals. Notably, all recovered funds were returned voluntarily following helpline calls, without follow-on enforcement action.
FINRA reported that, over the years, the service has handled more than 32,000 calls from investors throughout the U.S., and various other countries, including Canada, the U.K. and Australia, among others.
Recently, the service has seen an increase in calls about potential scams, including crypto scams, impersonation schemes (fraudsters posing as broker dealers) and romance scams, FINRA noted.
While some of these calls have led to enforcement activity at the SRO, the line has also generated 2,750 referrals to other authorities, including international regulators, along with U.S. state and federal authorities. It has also made 560 referrals to adult protective services, the SRO said.
FINRA said that the service’s success also depends on the commitment of brokerage firms to address senior investors’ concerns.
Many firms have established designated contacts to work with the service’s staff to accelerate the resolution of investor issues, it noted. Moreover, calls to the helpline are often the result of actions that firms have taken to protect a client, such as putting a hold on an investor’s account or refusing transactions that raised red flags.
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