Phone safety joins the ranks of identity theft and property protection as an area in which the families of seniors need to be vigilant. Your parents or grandparents grew up in a different era, when a phone was a useful tool to stay in touch with friends and relatives, or for emergencies. It wasn’t an extra appendage for ordering everything from dinner to a driver, or to text continuously (“What exactly is a text, dear?”), or to upload countless pictures to social media.
Of course, kids have always played pranks, so your elders are probably familiar with phone shenanigans, where someone hangs up after saying something strange or off-color. But they may not be aware of how scammers attempt to defraud them over the phone.
You might use the analogy of reading the fine print. Remind your mom (if she has a sense of humor) about that time she sent away for a “free” beauty product that only cost shipping and handling—but would continue to bill her credit card monthly unless she canceled before the first shipment. The company cleverly hid this requirement in the “Terms & Conditions,” which most people don’t read, so she lost $100 by not canceling immediately.
Phone scammers are similar to fine print: They hide the truth of what they do—and use fear or fantastic offers to lure unsuspecting elders in.
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https://www.ooma.ca/blog/home-phone/protect-seniors-from-elderly-phone-scams
