How to Protect Seniors from Phone Fraud
The senior ones can easily fall prey to scammers. Since your elderly parents are not aware of the latest methods of scams, they can prove to be vulnerable. Therefore, you need to take measures to prevent your parents form losing money on a scam.
If they have already been robbed, there is no need to get angry. Immediately contact the police, and report the scam. The culprits will be caught one day or another, but you must take some steps in order to avoid such incidents in the future.
There is nothing difficult in protecting the seniors form scams. Most of the time, only educating them can prove really useful. Tell them that majority of the cheaters use phone for illegal activities.
Instructions
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1
First of all, you need to talk to the senior ones about the scams. Ask them to read local newspapers on regular basis to know what methods the scammers are using. The papers publish plenty of scam stories every day.
Don’t rely entirely on papers. Talk to your parents regularly about such things, so that their memory stays fresh. Just telling them once is not the right thing, because they may forget due to the aging factor. -
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After educating them about the scams, create a plan to protect them. Keep a close look on their finances. Tell them not to give their bank details, pin numbers, credit cards or social security numbers to anyone on the phone.
Ask them to share the details of any financial investment they are interested in. A lot of fraud schemes sound true. There is no need to trust an unknown person. Consult the relevant state department to see if the scheme is real. -
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The best way of avoiding phone frauds is registering their phone numbers with the ‘National Do Not Call Registry’. Register both landline and mobile numbers to this service. Nevertheless, you should tell them not to trust an unknown caller.
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Monitor the seniors’ phone and email details. Sometimes, a quick action proves helpful. If you are monitoring their phone records regularly, you can identify an unknown number, and see if there is any issue.
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Ask them to give no appointments over phone. A lot of scammers visit home after talking to the seniors on phone. Quickly take action if you see an unknown person visiting your home.
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Another way of avoiding scam is teaching your parents to say ‘no thanks’. Ask them to say no, even if the deal is mighty attractive.
