KALISPELL — Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen visited Kalispell on Wednesday to host a summit on elder abuse and remind Montana seniors to stay vigilant to scams that prey upon on older citizens.
“I wanted to start telling my story so that people would know that it could happen to anybody,” said scam victim Susan Bivins.
(WATCH: Montana Attorney General hosts Elder Justice Summit in Kalispell)
In 2022, then 72-year-old Anaconda resident Susan Bivins was scammed by someone pretending to work at Amazon. The scammers then pretended to work for the DEA, claiming she was under investigation for money laundering.
Bivins lost her life savings, including her retirement, in total $240,000.
“When I realized that it was gone, I was just devastated and I was embarrassed and ashamed that I could let this happen, and how was I going to survive, and how was I going to tell people,” said Bivins.
Bivins was targeted by a sophisticated scamming scheme that included pictures of law enforcement badges and threats of arrests.
Attorney General Austin Knudsen said scammers are constantly evolving, finding new ways to prey on Montanans.
“Technology is getting better, artificial intelligence is now being used, crypto, I mean some of these scary concepts, but criminals have learned how to weaponize these things and so we really encourage folks if something doesn’t feel right, please let us know,” said Knudsen.
Knudsen said scammers target people’s fears and emotions, often backing people into a corner where they feel they have no way out.
He said Montanans need to ask themselves constantly, "Is this a scam?" And drop all communication with a suspected scammer immediately and contact law enforcement.
“Very difficult for us to claw back a lot of these fraudulent funds, once they’re gone typically these are not domestic in the U.S. criminals, they are almost always based overseas, really tough for us to get those funds back,” said Knudsen.
Bivins said she shares her story with hope that others will realize it’s a scam before it’s too late.
“And they’re trained to pull you in or terrify you or want to be your best friend or protect you or whatever, but they know all the questions to ask and all the responses to do,” said Bivins.
