More than 30 older adults fell for an online romance scam. The Department of Justice found the scammer stole more than $1.5 million from dozens of older adults. A professional football player was arrested for pretending to be a police officer in order to scam an elderly Floridian with Alzheimer’s disease. In that scam, he said the only way for the man to avoid arrest was by mailing $40,000 in cash.
Scammers are getting more and more convincing. It’s time to talk about online safety with your mom and dad. Go over each of these safety measures with them.
Change Passwords Regularly
It’s a good idea to change their passwords at least once a year. You might want to schedule it to happen when the time changes twice a year. When they change their passwords, they need to use something that’s not easy to guess.
Some of the most commonly used passwords include “password,” “ABC123,” or a person’s first initial and last name. Don’t use those. Instead, create something that mixes uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
To do this, you could take a phrase and create a password from it. For example, your mom has a weakness for fluffernutter sandwiches. Her password could become Fluff3rNu!!3r.
When your mom and dad change passwords, they should carefully write them down in a notebook that’s kept in their safe. It is extra work, but it’s important to keep switching passwords now and then.
Do Not Click Links or Attachments in Emails
Your parents get an email from their bank telling them to click the attachment. They shouldn’t click it. They need to verify that their bank really sent them the email, and that it’s not a scam.
The same is true of links in emails. If they get an email telling them to click a link and log in from that link, they never should do that unless they verify that it’s legitimate.
It’s easy for scammers to fake the headers in an email to make it look genuine. Your parents should generally avoid all attachments from any sender, even family, until they do their research and ensure someone they know did send it.
Install Security Software
Install a security suite that checks for viruses and malware, blocks your mom and dad from visiting sites that are dangerous, and uses a firewall to keep out hackers. The settings need to be set to automatically check that the virus definitions are up-to-date.
Don’t Let Them Become Lonely or Isolated
A lonely older adult is more likely to talk to strangers online. Home care aides offer companionship to your parents. If they have someone to talk to, they may not be as inclined to go online when you’re not there. Discuss home care services and pricing to learn more.
