Helen (not her real name) was a retired high school computer science teacher who considered herself tech savvy.
One day she received an alert on her home computer that the machine had detected a virus. Concerned, she called the number in the pop-up window, and a friendly voice told her they could resolve the issue for a few hundred dollars. She gave them her credit card number, along with remote access to her computer.
You can guess what happened next. “The problem is bigger than we thought”—the scammer needed an additional $500. Helen OK’d the charge. By the third request, she grew suspicious and canceled her credit card. But the damage was done. Arguably, the scammers hadn’t “stolen” anything: Helen had willingly handed over her personal data—and money.
When Helen told her daughter Jeannie what had transpired, Jeannie was appalled. She shared a Federal Trade Commission article about how to spot a tech support scam with her mom, who admitted that this was exactly what had happened.
This is just one story, and it could happen to anyone. Here are some elderly phone scam solutions to help protect your loved ones from phone fraud.
Original Link:
https://www.ooma.ca/blog/home-phone/protect-seniors-from-elderly-phone-scams/
