Financial advice: tips to protect your parents from fraud and scams

Scammers have always targeted older adults, and in today's online and mobile world, this trend has only increased. Hello, my name is Andy Mattingly and today's discussion is about tips to help your elderly parents avoid fraud and scams. With the proliferation of mobile phones across all generations, fraudsters now have an endless choice of potential victims and a multitude of access points to people. Here are some tips to help you and your parents avoid getting scammed.

Alert parents to avoid red flags, from calls from supposed government agencies to frantic calls that appear to come from their grandchildren to free lunch deals and limited-time deals.

Help your parents avoid receiving as many unwanted calls as possible by putting their number on the National Do Not Call Registry and developing an opt-out script with them that they can use if they receive a call that attempts to force them to make a decision.

Declutter their email inbox/protect your computer as much as possible. This includes unsubscribing from mailing lists, especially those that sell email, and disabling pop ads on their browser to avoid fraudulent ads.

Explain to your parents today's popular scams like lottery winnings that require payment to "your bank is bankrupt and you need to convert your deposits to bitcoin." The awareness will be very useful for them.

Finally, discuss password 101 with them, which includes that they should use a password phrase to generate a 10-character password and that they should never share their passwords with anyone. it would be.

If you would like to learn more, check out this topic on the Financial Resources page of forumcu.com for more detailed information. Be sure to follow us on your favorite social media service and subscribe to the FORUM YouTube channel to stay informed about new financial tips.

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