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I haven’t found convenient technology solutions but I do tell them the following (and repeat it again and again until it’s drummed into them): 1. If someone ca

by ssss11 5y ago

I haven’t found convenient technology solutions but I do tell them the following (and repeat it again and again until it’s drummed into them): 1. If someone calls you from a company you use, don’t tell them any of your account information. Tell them politely that you’ll phone back on the main number. Look up their number and call back (or just ignore if not interested). 2. Emails - same. Call the company about it rather than reply. 3. Offers that seem too good to be true usually are. 4. Hang up on anyone telling you your computer is broken and call me. 5. Some patterns to look out for: limited time e.g. you must do x right now. Paying them in apple gift cards. Email address incorrect. Inability to confirm your details to you (rather than you to them). The technology changes over time but the tactics don’t so if you can educate them with some basic knowledge of how to avoid the scammers or make them prove themselves, that may be the best way.

jka 5y ago
Your point (1) is particularly good and Brian Krebs has a nice mantra that echoes it fairly closely: "Hang up, look up, call back". One small optimization if you can expect likely inbound communications in advance (either on your own behalf or those of your family members): collect the return contact details in an authentic, physical format from the parties you expect to hear from before they need to reach out to you. The typical example here is a debit/credit card: turning that over to look for the financial institution's phone number is straightforward, trustworthy and confidence-building. Sadly because we've allowed shoddy insecure software to become commonplace on smartphones and in browsers (thank you, market incentives), it's becoming -- predictably -- less reasonable to depend upon them when researching and communicating. So, I'd expect, more reliable and less sophisticated devices and environments will increasingly make sense for everyone.

by ssss11 5y ago

jka 5y ago

Your point (1) is particularly good and Brian Krebs has a nice mantra that echoes it fairly closely: "Hang up, look up, call back". One small optimization if you can expect likely inbound communications in advance (either on your own behalf or those of your family members): collect the return contact details in an authentic, physical format from the parties you expect to hear from before they need to reach out to you. The typical example here is a debit/credit card: turning that over to look for the financial institution's phone number is straightforward, trustworthy and confidence-building. Sadly because we've allowed shoddy insecure software to become commonplace on smartphones and in browsers (thank you, market incentives), it's becoming -- predictably -- less reasonable to depend upon them when researching and communicating. So, I'd expect, more reliable and less sophisticated devices and environments will increasingly make sense for everyone.