Yellowstone Times

Connor Green, a graduate student at Montana State University, was taken aback last summer when his grandfather received a distressing phone call. The caller impersonated Green using AI technology, claiming to be injured and in urgent need of $15,000. Recognizing the deception, Green terminated the call. This incident later influenced his academic pursuits and community efforts in Bozeman.

Green, enrolled in the Master of Public Accountancy program at the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, was reminded of this experience during a fraud examination course led by Professor Angela Woodland. The class project required students to create an educational presentation on fraud for vulnerable audiences.

Together with fellow students Dylan Nelson, Nicholas Caiazzo, and Ethan Egan, Green developed a presentation addressing common scams and preventive measures. In November, they delivered their presentation at the Bozeman Senior Center to about 20 attendees. Initially planned for 15 minutes, the session extended to two hours due to numerous questions from the audience.

Their presentation's success led to another session on March 4 for the MSU Alumni Foundation Retiree Association. This time, around 40 people attended in person and 30 joined online. "This is exactly the goal of our fraud examination class project," said Woodland. "I could not be more proud of my students’ hard work, professionalism, expertise and heart for our community."

For this second event, Green and his team provided printouts with resources and tips while discussing real-life scam examples. They also prepared for specific inquiries from attendees.

Reflecting on his motivation for this work, Green shared: “I’ve heard so many horror stories of people losing their entire livelihoods because of these scams... it’s really hard to get that money back.”

The students addressed four main types of scams: family imitation and coercion; tech support scams; government impersonation scams; and phishing. Green focused on family imitation scams, advising families to establish unique verification phrases.

Ethan Egan discussed tech support scams often initiated through pop-up messages falsely claiming refunds or virus issues. Dylan Nelson covered government impersonation scams where impostors pose as officials from agencies like the IRS. Nick Caiazzo explained phishing scams involving deceptive emails or texts with harmful links.

While primarily aimed at seniors, these presentations highlighted that anyone can fall victim to increasingly sophisticated scams. “We don't want to scold people for falling for scams," Green noted. "It’s just something that you have to deal with... especially in the world we live in today.”