How to protect older parents from phone scams

What schemes are most often used by scammers

1. Call from the bank

The phone receives a call supposedly from a bank. The interlocutor says that a large payment came, they tried to withdraw money from the card, the account was blocked or something like that. To save funds or transfer payments, he asks for card details or numbers from SMS.

With the help of this information, the fraudster will gain access to the mobile bank and withdraw all the money or pay for purchases on the Internet with a card.

2. SMS from the bank

Most often, an SMS from the bank informs that the card is blocked and offers to call the specified number or follow the link.

In the first case, the interlocutor will try to receive card data or codes from SMS, as in the first paragraph. In the second, there will be a malicious program on the phone that will copy the data necessary for the withdrawal of funds.

3. Big win

There are several options for how this scheme plays out:

Information about the winnings comes, for which you need to pay tax, commission or something else. Money will predictably make a one-way trip.
You are invited to participate in a quiz with a big win. You see the questions, they are simple, and the hand itself reaches out to send the answer. But for each SMS you will be charged a significant amount of money. Another option for participation fee is to enter the code.

4. An offer to buy an important product

A person is called and offered to buy "only today and only now" a very important and necessary product. As a rule, it is a medical device or medicine that is supposed to cope with the most common diseases. An older person usually has one of these conditions.

The fraudster may introduce himself as a doctor from the clinic. He will exaggerate and tell how little is left for the interlocutor to live if he does not purchase the goods. You need to have very strong nerves to resist such pressure.

5. Trouble with a loved one

There are several schemes here again:

Their alleged son or grandson calls the parent and says that he was in trouble, most often he hit a person. And now they are demanding a bribe from him to avoid punishment. Usually the scammer starts a conversation with the words "Mom / Dad, it's me", and the gullible parent himself calls him by name. Further divorce for money is a matter of technology. Funds may be asked to be transferred to the account, but, most likely, they will be taken by a courier to make it harder to track the participants in the scheme.
The fraudster introduces himself as a policeman, and the rest of the development of events duplicates the first paragraph.
The parent receives an SMS with a request to immediately transfer money to a certain number, while it is allegedly impossible to call him. A concerned relative transfers funds.

6. Unclear order

An SMS comes to the phone that the order has been formed and will be delivered after a certain time, but for now you have to pay for it. Later, the "store representative" will call back and when you say that you did not order anything, he will appeal to your conscience that they have already spent on delivery and you should pay for it.

7. Wrong payment

The scammer contacts you and says that he put money on your phone by mistake. Before that, an SMS may come with the standard text: "Your account has been credited …". The attacker apologizes and asks to transfer the same amount to his number. The problem is that SMS about crediting funds is a fiction, and you are simply transferring money.

What to do for children of elderly parents

1. Speak all the fraud schemes

Some things may seem obvious to you, but they are not. The information field of older relatives may differ significantly from yours. And if you read a dozen articles on the Internet every day about retirees cheated by phone, then parents may come across this data for the first time when they themselves become victims. Therefore, patiently explain how the scammers operate and what they are counting on.

2. Ask not to transfer money to anyone before talking to you

Explain that this is not due to distrust or doubt about the parents' ability to make decisions. It's just that you are worried and do not want them to become victims of scammers acting on their emotions.

Make a list of people you can contact in this case: if they don't get through to you, someone else will help.

3. Discuss how you can get help

Children and grandchildren may sometimes need financial assistance. Ideally, the parent should call the requestor back and make sure it is him.

But the cases are different, and you may find yourself without money and a phone. Therefore, discuss (or better write a memo) that in an SMS or telephone conversation with a request to transfer money from an unknown number, you will use a passphrase for identification. It is best if it fits well with your manner of speaking.

One woman didn’t buy into the tricks of the scammers, because the text message said “Mommy, please come with some money”. She explained that her daughter would have written: "Mother, babos come out." So this is definitely a hoax.

As for divorces in the style of “Mom, I hit a man, I need a bribe”, in such situations, common sense is turned off for many. Think about what arguments in this matter will work with your parents. For example, many people realize that a bribe is a crime, like a fatal accident, and they are in no hurry to get money.

My grandmother in such a situation did not panic, because she knew that no one wanted to worry her, so she would be the last one to know about such a situation. She, of course, did not transfer money to anyone.

4. Forbid to speak personal data and information from SMS

Forbid is a big word, but this is exactly the result you should achieve. Explain, exaggerate, answer a million questions, but your goal is to convey at any cost that a few numbers from SMS can leave you without money. Therefore, you cannot tell them to anyone.

Moreover, SMS with codes from the bank, if a person does not pay for anything and does not buy online, should be alerted: this may be a hacking attempt.

So, parents should tell you about all such facts. Passport data and any information from the card should also fall under the "non-disclosure agreement".

5. Tell us about the card blocking process

Explain that blocking a card is not so scary and that money, most likely, will not dissolve in thin air and can be withdrawn from the account.

If the card is really blocked, as written in the SMS, then you can call the bank, but only at the number indicated on the website or on the card itself. It is better to ignore the numbers in the message.

6. Prevent from shopping by phone

The fraudulent sellers talk to the victim as if they have benefited her by offering their product. Destroy this illusion in the bud.

If someone calls with a purchase offer, all they want is to get paid.

It is unlikely that he really has "only two copies" left. This is what needs to be conveyed to the parents.

Separately say that they will not be called by a doctor who has found a cure for all diseases, or a social worker promising to lower the retirement age for them personally for a small fee.

This also includes the winnings: nothing has changed with the free cheese, it still waits only in a mousetrap.

7. Explain the dangers of following links

Links in SMS messages invitingly attract, but you should not follow them. It seems that every first grader knows this, but elderly parents may not be aware of this.

If parents have smartphones, take care of antivirus. He will not give any guarantees, but he will neutralize at least the simplest threats, there will be one less headache.

8. Ask to be less kind and helpful

Fraud with money inadvertently deposited into someone else's phone bill is based on responsiveness. A person does not need someone else's, so he will willingly return the funds.

Tell elderly relatives that the sender can cancel an incorrect payment for cellular communication on his own, if, of course, there was such a payment.

9. Warn about the danger of entering codes

Entering a code or sending a message to a short number is often followed by the withdrawal of a large amount of money. Therefore, you need to be careful with this. If your parents are not sure what they are doing, let them wait for you.

10. Appeal to intuition and common sense

The parents lived a long life and had a lot of experience. So if they have doubts during a telephone conversation, most likely they are justified, you do not need to trust. Concerns should be triggered by the persistence of the interlocutor, the requirement to make a quick decision, any mention of money issues, a tone that is usually not spoken to strangers.

Not trusting and making mistakes in material matters is better than trusting and making mistakes.