Elder Fraud in South Dakota

Andrea Estell Cochran, a 51-year-old from Houston, was arrested and charged with federal bank fraud after using forged passports to impersonate account holders and withdraw approximately $11,000 from multiple banks across Washington state and Maine in 2024. She faces up to 30 years in federal prison plus additional state charges, with a plea deal hearing scheduled for August 28, 2025. A separate study by VPNPro found that seniors aged 60 and older across all U.S. states lost significant sums to fraud in 2022, with losses ranging from approximately $3 million to $31 million per state, highlighting the widesprea

Andrea Estell Cochran, a 51-year-old from Houston, was arrested and charged with federal bank fraud after using fake passports to impersonate account holders and withdraw approximately $11,000 from multiple Washington state banks in 2024, with similar attempts in Maine; she faces up to 30 years in prison and state charges across multiple Washington counties. Additionally, a VPNPro study reveals that seniors aged 60 and over across all U.S. states lost substantial sums to fraud in 2022, with per-victim losses ranging from $13,118 to $30,150 depending on the state, highlighting seniors as prime targets for scammers

Nebraska residents lost a reported $42.5 million to scams in 2024—tripling over four years—with experts attributing the increase to more accessible and affordable artificial intelligence technology that enables scammers to operate at scale and create increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes, including voice cloning and realistic chatbot-generated scams. Peter Hines, a 76-year-old Fremont insurance business owner, lost $936 to a Facebook ad lead scam and was unable to recover the money due to the company's out-of-state location and legal protections in his agreement, highlighting the difficulty of prosecution when scammers operate overseas or across state lines. Authorities recommend limiting online presence,

This research study compared video-based versus text-based anti-fraud educational materials for older adults aged 60 and above, finding that video interventions significantly outperformed text-only materials in improving comprehension, emotional engagement, and fraud prevention intentions. Text-based materials provided more detailed information but generated lower emotional engagement, while the study validated a combined multimodal approach integrating both formats to better address older adults' cognitive and emotional needs in protecting themselves against sophisticated fraud schemes.

Court scams involve fraudsters impersonating judicial officials or law enforcement via phone calls, texts, or emails to demand money or personal information by threatening arrest for missed jury duty, court appearances, or unpaid traffic tickets. Courts and law enforcement never demand immediate payment via cryptocurrency or apps, threaten people over the phone, or request sensitive information through electronic communication. Victims should refuse requests, avoid engaging with scammers, verify claims directly with local court offices, and report incidents to local law enforcement, the South Dakota Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, or the Federal Trade Commission.

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Romance and confidence fraud caused $601 million in damages to 16,504 victims across the United States in 2023, with an average loss of $36,459 per victim. Idaho was hit hardest, with 112 victims losing $6.9 million ($61,784 per person), while scammers posing as online pen pals or relatives in distress targeted victims primarily through email and social media. Elderly victims aged 60 and older comprised approximately 40% of victims and suffered $365.9 million in losses.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for South Dakota designated June as Elder Abuse Awareness Month to highlight the widespread impact of elder fraud and abuse, which affects millions of seniors annually by compromising their finances, security, and dignity. Warning signs of elder fraud include unexplained bank withdrawals, suspicious signatures on financial documents, abrupt changes to wills, and unpaid bills despite adequate funds, while common scams involve impersonation (kidnapping/arrest claims), romance fraud, and gift card schemes. The Justice Department provides resources including Senior Scam Alerts and a dedicated National Elder Fraud Hotline (1-833-FRAUD-11) for reporting and assistance.

Multiple states are warning residents about text message scams impersonating state motor vehicle agencies and demanding payment for fraudulent traffic violations or unpaid tolls, threatening driver's license revocation if victims don't pay. The scam has been reported across at least 17 states and represents an evolution of earlier toll-payment scams; the FBI reports text-based scams accounted for $470 million in losses in 2024, with toll scams alone generating $129,624 from nearly 60,000 complaints. State authorities advise residents not to click suspicious links and to contact their state motor vehicle departments directly if they receive threatening messages about unpaid traffic violations.

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The Better Business Bureau is warning of a surge in identity and information scams, with federal agencies logging over three million cases in the past year. BBB South Dakota recommends freezing credit with major reporting agencies to prevent scammers from opening accounts or taking loans in victims' names.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a joint hearing on April 9, 2025, to examine how the Chinese Communist Party exploits American retirees through financial scams and predatory investment practices that threaten retirement savings and national security. Expert witnesses including Kevin O'Leary, Chris Iacovella, and Brady Finta will testify on the risks posed to American investments in China and discuss scams targeting older Americans' retirement funds.

According to the FTC's 2024 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, while younger people (ages 20-29) report fraud more frequently than seniors, adults aged 70 and older experience significantly higher median losses, with those 80+ losing a median of $1,650 per incident and seniors collectively losing $2.3 billion in 2024. Overall fraud losses in the United States reached $12.5 billion in 2024 (a 25% increase from 2023), with business imposters and government imposters being the most common scams targeting older adults, followed by tech support and lottery scams.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Zelle's operator Early Warning Services for failing to implement adequate fraud prevention safeguards on the peer-to-peer payment network, resulting in over $870 million in losses to customers of the three banks over seven years. The banks rushed Zelle to market to compete with apps like Venmo and CashApp without proper protections, leaving hundreds of thousands of consumers vulnerable to fraud schemes and denying many victims legally required reimbursement when they filed complaints.

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including Susan Collins, Rick Scott, and Mark Kelly, designated March 6, 2025 as "National Slam the Scam Day" to raise awareness about financial scams targeting older Americans. One in four people report being scammed, with elder fraud losses exceeding $10 billion in 2023 alone, prompting the senators to emphasize public education, vigilance, and reporting suspicious activities as key prevention strategies.