Attorney General Knudsen launches PSA to combat elder fraud and abuse in Montana

HELENA – Attorney General Austin Knudsen launched a new public service announcement to remind Montana seniors to be aware and take precautions as bad actors commonly prey on the elderly population.

The 30-second spot features Attorney General Knudsen and Susan Bivins, an Anaconda resident who lost her life savings to a scammer in 2022. In the spot, Bivins shares how she was defrauded and provides Montanans with tips to avoid falling victim to fraud schemes. It will run through the end of the year.

“Scammers deliberately target seniors who have been working and saving their entire lives to retire. At the Montana Department of Justice, we will continue to do what we can to hold perpetrators accountable. I encourage every Montanan to learn the signs and stay in contact with their older friends, neighbors, and relatives to help us stop this abuse,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “Always remember if something feels wrong: Stop. Check. Protect. And if you or a loved one is the victim of elder abuse, contact my office immediately.”

After fraudulent charges on her Amazon account, Bivins was scammed by a man posing as a Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who convinced her she was the suspect in a money laundering scheme. For weeks, he kept tabs on her until he eventually told her she was ruled out as a suspect, but she needed to transfer her savings to him to keep it safe from the money launderers. In return, he promised the DEA would issue her a cashier’s check for the total amount once her money was safe, but she never received it. The scammers who targeted Bivens used popular tactics like fear, pressure, and urgency to coerce her into complying with their demands.

“You really need to listen to your gut, and if your gut tells you this is not right, pay attention to that,” Bivins said in the PSA.

Watch the spot here.

Older Americans are frequently the targets of scammers trying to make a quick buck, and can also be victims of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. According to AARP, there are more than 369,000 nationwide incidents of financial abuse that target older adults each year.

The Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) oversees three sections that work to protect Montana’s elders. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit provides direct assistance to criminally investigate elder abuse and exploitation within health care facilities, the Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) protects seniors from financial exploitation, and the Elder Justice Unit helps to combat financial exploitation, abuse, and other crimes committed against Montana’s older population.

Common scams that a predator may use against the elderly include the grandparent scam, in which a scammer pretends to be a grandchild in need of monetary assistance; romance scams, which target lonely seniors looking to build a romantic relationship; and law enforcement scams, in which the scammer is creating a false sense of authority by claiming to be law enforcement.

Attorney General Knudsen offered the following tips to avoid falling victim to a scam:

• Don’t give out personal information to someone soliciting it from you over the phone or the internet. Banks and government agencies will never call and ask for your personal information.
• Never wire or give money to someone you don’t know. Don’t send gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or cryptocurrency to someone you do not know. Even if you think it’s someone you know, follow up to make sure before you wire any money.
• Use common sense and do your due diligence: ask around, talk to others, call OCP if you have any doubts or questions.
• Be skeptical, resist high-pressure tactics, and take your time. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Montanans can report the financial exploitation and abuse of seniors to the Montana Department of Justice at 406-444-3874.

Montanans can also report any phone, email, or mail scams to the Montana Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Protection at [email protected], or 406-444-4500 (toll-free: 800-481-6896), or online at dojmt.gov/consumer.

Montanans can report suspected cases of Medicaid fraud or elder abuse by calling the Medicaid Fraud hotline at 800-376-1115.