Montana Seniors Face Rising Elder Fraud Threat, Facing Major Financial Losses

Susan Bivens, a retired nurse from Anaconda, thought she was protecting her retirement savings when a man identifying himself as a Drug Enforcement Administration agent told her she was implicated in a money laundering scheme. Over several weeks, she withdrew everything from her accounts and transferred it to someone she knew only as Randall. He vanished with $240,000, her entire life savings. "Randall disappeared, and so was my money," Bivens said. "I felt so embarrassed and so humiliated that I would fall for something like that."

Her case is no longer an outlier. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission recorded more than 6,000 Montanans reporting fraud losses totaling over $23 million, and state officials say those numbers undercount the full scale of the problem. The Helena city commission reinforced that alarm on March 26, proclaiming April as Fraud Prevention Month, aligning with the AARP's national designation. Marcus Meyer, AARP's director of outreach and community engagement, described the damage in terms that go beyond finances. "It can completely change their life, as far as losing their life savings," Meyer said. "It can take an emotional toll on them, where they may become paranoid or not trustworthy."

The scam that ensnared Bivens began with a seemingly ordinary Amazon customer service call after suspicious charges appeared on her account in 2022. What started as a $6,000 unauthorized purchase of jewelry and video equipment quickly escalated: the caller transferred her to a fake DEA agent who convinced her she was a suspect in a federal investigation, then spent weeks monitoring her movements and pressuring her into handing over her savings. The Montana Securities Division later investigated, obtained a judgment against the fictitious entity behind the fraud, and Bivens ultimately received $50,000 in restitution through the Lynne Egan Memorial Securities Restitution Fund. She now serves as a Montana fraud ambassador for AARP, sharing her story publicly.

Elder fraud in Montana is not limited to sophisticated phone imposters. In March 2026, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced that Big Horn County resident Kristel Marie Blair received a 10-year deferred sentence and was ordered to pay $101,171 in restitution after exploiting her own mother and stepfather, both over 65. The case was the first conviction handled by the Montana Department of Justice's Elder Justice Unit, a division the Legislature permanently established in 2023.

Montana State Auditor James Brown has warned that cryptocurrency schemes now represent one of the most damaging fraud categories, with the average loss per victim running around $180,000 statewide. AI-generated voices are increasingly being used to impersonate family members and financial institutions, making the scams harder to detect. Nationwide, the FBI reported that people 60 and older lost nearly $5 billion to fraud in 2024 alone.

Anyone in Lewis and Clark County who suspects elder fraud can contact the Montana Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Protection or reach the state fraud hotline at 1-800-222-4446, available around the clock.