Rosendale to Host Telephone Town Hall to Warn of COVID 19 Scams

State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale will be co-hosting a statewide telephone town hall meeting on Thursday evening specifically targeted at seniors who may fall victim to COVID 19 scams.

Rosendale heads up the Montana Senior Financial Exploitation Task Force helping older Montanans stay safe from fraud and scams.

“We’ll be hosting a tele-town hall this Thursday, April 9^th at 6:20 p.m. to help get the word out to Montanans,” said Rosendale. “We’ll be dialing out to approximately 90,000 Montanans, however, anyone can listen in to the town hall meeting by going to our website and clicking on the link so they can hear the information that is being shared.”

Rosendale identified those who would be participating in the statewide call,

“The tele-town hall will be hosted by the State Auditor’s office, the Montana Division of Banking and the Attorney General’s office. Representatives from each office will be available to answer questions and to share information about the potential frauds and scams that are taking place now and we’re likely to see more of in the future.”

Rosendale provided some examples of many of the online and on the phone dangers that seniors could fall prey to during the COVID 19 emergency.

“Phishing emails posing as entities posing as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” he said. “They may be seeking donations fraudulently for illegitimate or non-existent charitable organizations, and you’ll see a lot of fake investment opportunities, Ponzi schemes and securities fraud.”

Rosendale said that seniors who may have lost investments in the stock market crash might be especially vulnerable to get-rich-quick schemes.

The tele-town hall is Thursday at 6:20 p.m. and will be hosted by the State Auditor’s Office.