25
My mom almost got scammed by a fake Venmo request last night
She got a text saying she owed $49.95 for some subscription she never signed up for. It had her name and even her zip code right in the message. I told her to check her Venmo before clicking anything and sure enough there was no pending payment. The link in the text was a phishing site that looked EXACTLY like the real login page. I showed her how to hover over links before clicking and she was shocked at how real it looked. How do you guys teach older relatives to spot these fakes without making them scared to use their phones?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
the_susan9d ago
Oh man that's so scary but you handled it perfectly! One thing nobody talks about is that scammers are now targeting seniors through their MEDICAL portals too. My aunt almost fell for one that looked like her MyChart login but it was a fake asking for her insurance info. The scary part is older folks are used to getting medical messages and they dont think twice about clicking those links. Maybe show them how to always go to the website directly by typing the address themselves instead of clicking anything from a text or email. Also teach them to look up the customer service number separately and call to ask if the charge is real. Getting them to slow down and double check everything is the biggest thing.
4
jamiegreen9d ago
Respectfully I see it a little different. Telling someone to always type the address in sounds good but my dad can barely find the address bar, let alone remember a website URL. Instead I think showing them how to use the bookmark they already trust is way more practical and sticks better with folks who aren't tech savvy. The core thing is getting them to pause and question before acting, but the method has to match their actual daily computer habits or theyll just give up and click whatever comes in.
8