BILLINGS, Mont. — Thursday the Highgate Senior Living home was visited by the MontanaCommissioner of Securities and Insurance for their monthly fraud prevention bingo event
The Investor Education and Public Outreach Coordinator, Blair Stapleton said the event helps educate seniors on the importance of “defending themselves and their dollars” against scams.
According to the Department of Justice’s 2022Elder Fraud Report in the state of Montana people over 60 have lost more than $ 3.1 billion dollars to scams.
Blair estimates that as few as 1 in 44 cases get reported and she hopes these events will reach more seniors, because they are often the most targeted by fraud and romance scams.
“Older adults are often targeted because that is where the wealth is and a lot of older adults have invested, they have retirement accounts and they have built up wealth, and you know there is often a tendency for older generations to be more giving. They are more generous and want to help people out. Scammers will take advantage of that; they say they are in a bad spot and need someone to help them out and often older adults want to be able to help and don’t realize it’s a scammer.” Blair said.
Stapleton warns people to always be skeptical of anyone they meet online, because you can never be too sure.
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