Scam Alerts

Introducing "The Fraudsters"
Montana's New Frontline Against Scams

By Alex Ward
AARP Lead Voluneer for American Indian Outreach

Fraud is on the rise, and Montana’s seniors are often targets. But a coalition of experts — dubbed “The Fraudsters” — is here to help you fight back.

The group, including the FBI, AARP, the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance (CSI), and the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP), is pooling resources to protect Montanans from scams.

The Fraudsters’ mission is simple: to make it easier for people to recognize the red flags that are common across various types of fraud. With so many different scams circulating, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

By focusing on these key warning signs, the group aims to simplify fraud prevention.Their first major outreach effort will take place during International Fraud Awareness Week, November 17-23, 2024.

Webinars and events will be scheduled to provide practical tips and strategies for staying safe. Keep an eye on the SMP offices at your local Area Agency on Aging, the Montana CSI website, and AARP Montana's website for details.

Each presenter brings extensive experience in fraud prevention.

Rabecca Leary, an Outreach Specialist with the FBI, helped organize the initiative. Kari Weber, a forensic accountant with the FBI, specializes in financial exploitation. Rene LaBrie Shanks, director of Montana’s SMP, works to prevent Medicare fraud. Blair Stapleton, who works with the CSI, focuses on securities and insurance fraud, and Al Ward represents AARP Montana’s Fraud Watch Network.

Scammers are getting more sophisticated, and no one is immune. They excel at creating confusion and manipulating emotions, making it easy for even savvy individuals to fall victim.

Staying informed and knowing what to watch for will help you protect yourself and those you care about from becoming the next target.

Unmasking the Con: How to Protect Yourself from Fraud

By Alex Ward

Unfortunately, as good Americans, we feel we can never be fooled. Having spent 26 years in Law Enforcement, I can tell you quite truthfully that we are very wrong. There is no better example of this phenomena than in the arena of Cons and Fraud. 

Confidence Games

Most of us don’t know where the term con comes from — some probably connect it with convicts in prison, but that is not the case. The term comes from what we used to teach in Police Academies — “Confidence Games.” The idea of the con is to convince us (often using information we give them) that they are good people — just like us, and that whatever they say must be true.

These criminals have further focused that idea to the point of talking about putting the victim into “the ether.” They do this in two ways. First, they suggest the victim is entitled to an unbelievable gift — so large they can’t even imagine it. Or second, they get the victim to believe they are about to go to jail, or a family member or friend is in dire straits. In either of these cases, the victim is overwhelmed and likely not thinking clearly and may fall for the pitch. 

I’ve been watching con pitches for the past 40 years and can say cons are experts at second guessing the victim. They can in a few moments on the phone (or internet, or social media, or via text) tailor their pitch to draw in the victim and convince them they should be heard.

Organized Crime Groups

These criminals are often part of very organized criminal groups. Recently, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was brought to its knees by two very organized criminal enterprises using ransomware to take over all their computers. They asked for $17 million, which the MGM Grand refused to pay. They instead chose to bring in technicians to rebuild their protection. This cost them most likely $100 million, but they at least hadn’t given up the money to terrorists.

The two groups involved in this ransomware attack were Scattered Spider, which is part of a large group (Black Cat - over 1000 people) who focus on cyber attacks, and ALPHV, which is of eastern European origin. These two groups, possibly working together, caused the attack.

This hack didn’t just cost the hotel/casino giant to lose money, but also individual guests as well. Their information was hijacked. It will certainly take months to know who all was victimized. 

The interesting thing about the MGM Grand hijack is that it began with a Smishing phone call to IT. Smishing is a phishing cybersecurity attack carried out over mobile text messaging, also known as SMS phishing.

Protect Yourself

We need to understand much more about the various ways hackers get our information.

There are things you can do, aside from just hanging up, which I would recommend, but if you aren’t interested in that, here are four things that will reduce your chances of letting criminals take your money or information.

1. Use multifactor authentication when allowing your account to be accessed. This is usually set up by your bank, credit card company, or other organizations you do business with.
2. Use passwordless authentication. Again, this is set up by organizations you do business with. There are various ways to do this, and you can check with the organizations to decide which works best for you.
3. Limit the number of “super administrators” that have complete access to your system.
4. Use tougher authentication for extremely sensitive data.