By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
Be vigilant of scammers, not just for yourself but also for the elderly. It’s important to safeguard older adults, especially aging parents, from scams and fraud. For aging parents, it is important for their children or family members to help protect them from scammers and impostors.
Although the elderly and the lonely may be prime targets as they are most vulnerable to scammers, people of any age can be scammed. Many individuals may not know how to protect themselves from scams or even recognize when they are being scammed.
Be cautious of impostor accounts on social media. These accounts may impersonate someone you know or present themselves as an attractive person in order to establish a romantic relationship with the intention of scamming you. The person behind the fake profile may not even look like the photos they’ve posted. They may try to gain your trust and eventually ask for money by claiming to be in a difficult situation, such as being mugged, having car trouble, or needing money for medical expenses. They may go as far as to ask for your banking and credit card information.
According to a poll conducted in July and August 2023 by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, “Three out of every four older adults reported that they have encountered a fraud attempt through phone calls, text messages, emails, mail, or online over the last two years. Additionally, three in ten said they have fallen victim to at least one scam.” For further details, you can view the full poll report.
Some of the things to help protect yourself and help protect aging parents from scammers and fraud:
- Never give out banking or credit card logins to anyone you don’t know or trust.
- Never give out user names or passwords to anyone you don’t know or trust.
- Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know on social media.
- For the elderly, consider giving your Power of Attorney (POA) to an adult child; this would allow the person with the POA to help with a situation involving a scammer/imposter.
In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) suggests the following steps for you to help protect your cybersecurity:
- Do not open email from people you don’t know. If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.
- Be careful with links and new website addresses. Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.
- Secure your personal information. Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.
- Stay informed on the latest cyber threats. Keep yourself up to date on current scams. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) can provide you with Alerts.
- Use Strong Passwords. Strong passwords are critical to online security. Review CISA guidance on Choosing and Protecting Passwords.
- Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs. Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.
- Update the operating systems on your electronic devices. Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.
