Helena spotlights fraud prevention month amid rising elder scams
Helena is warning older adults about scams that now come by text, email, social media and AI. A shred event and fraud webinar this month give residents immediate ways to protect accounts and records.
Scammers are no longer waiting by the phone. In Helena, fraud attempts now can arrive through calls, texts, email, social media and even AI-generated messages, and that means older adults and their families need to treat every urgent money request as a possible attack on bank accounts, Medicare information and personal identity.
The City of Helena’s vote to declare April 2026 as Fraud Prevention Month puts the warning squarely in public view, as AARP Montana pushes out statewide reminders that Montana residents reported $23.2 million stolen by fraud in 2024 across 6,622 consumer complaints. The most common schemes were imposter scams and online shopping scams, a reminder that the fraud problem is not abstract. It is landing in inboxes, on cellphones and at kitchen tables across Lewis and Clark County.
The warning signs are familiar, but the methods are getting sharper. Scammers press for immediate action, create a sense of emergency and push victims toward payments that are hard to trace. Even people who think they would never fall for a scam can be caught off guard when a message looks official or uses the name of a trusted institution. That makes this as much a psychology problem as a technology problem, especially when AI deepfakes and voice cloning can make impostor scams sound convincing.
Local and state agencies are part of the response. The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation works with local law enforcement when fraud reports come in, tracking where money goes and helping support investigations when possible. Montana law also defines exploitation of a vulnerable adult as using deception, duress, fraud, undue influence or intimidation to divert money or property, a standard that underscores how seriously these cases are treated under state law.
AARP Montana is pairing the Helena proclamation with practical steps residents can use now. A fraud webinar titled Real Story, Real Risks is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. MT, featuring Fraud Fighter Volunteers Mike Fanning and Susan Bivens and a firsthand account from a fraud victim. A Helena shred event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The UPS Store, 2047 North Last Chance Gulch, where participants may bring up to two boxes of documents. AARP Montana is also partnering with Northern Broadcasting to air fraud-prevention public service announcements throughout April.
The message for Helena families is direct: do not rush, do not trust pressure, and do not leave personal paperwork exposed. In a year when fraud losses among adults 60 and older have climbed sharply nationwide, the safest move in Lewis and Clark County is to slow the process before scammers can speed it up.
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