Scams targeting seniors are growing, and every year, seniors are losing billions of dollars to scammers. If your mom or dad is living alone, even with in-home care, you should be concerned about keeping them safe from scams.
The numbers are shocking, but they still are only a fraction of the losses seniors suffer yearly. Researchers say that many seniors never tell anyone about being scammed because they are embarrassed, ashamed, or afraid that they won’t be able to live independently if their families find out.
There are some things that you, in-home care providers, and your senior parent can do to help keep them safe from scams. The most important thing you can do to protect your mom or dad is to talk to them. Talk to them often about the popular scams that are targeting seniors so they know what to watch out for. Make it a habit to talk about safe internet use, romance scams, and other red flags that might indicate a scam.
Some other things that can help protect your mom or dad are:
In-Home Care
In-home care services can help protect your senior parent from a lot of dangerous things, including scams. Seniors who have in-home care will have help with daily tasks like cooking meals and cleaning up. They will have help with shopping, errands, and household management.
A trustworthy in-home care provider can help your senior parent avoid common financial scams, such as bank transfer scams, by helping them manage the household.
Parental Software
Tracking software designed to help parents keep kids safe online can also be used to help you keep your senior parent safe online. Installing trackers and keystroke loggers on your senior parent’s computer might not feel good at first, but it can help them stay safe and give you access to their computer in a crisis.
Joint Social Media Accounts
Joint management of social media accounts is a great way to keep your senior parents safe from romance scams. Seniors who are victims of romance scams are often targeted through social media. If you have access to your mom or dad’s social media accounts, you can see their messages and make sure they aren’t giving money to strangers online.
Joint Financial Accounts
Talking to your parents about being added to their financial accounts can be awkward, but it’s the way to protect everything they have worked for. If you are a joint account holder on any bank, retirement, or investment account, you can keep an eye on where the money is going.
And if your senior parent does get scammed, you can help the bank secure the account before all the money is stolen.
Pre-Paid Cards
If your mom or dad likes to shop online or over the phone, a great way to keep them safe is to use a pre-paid credit or debit card. You can load the card with cash, and the card is no longer active when that amount is spent. When you reload it, your senior parent can use it again.
Using a pre-paid card ensures that if the card number is stolen thieves won’t be able to get access to the rest of your mom or dad’s accounts using that card. And it limits the amount of money they can steal to the amount on the card.
If you or an aging loved one are considering In-Home Care in San Mateo, CA, please contact the caring staff at Aviva In-Home Care today at (415) 463-1400
Aviva In-Home Care provides exceptional senior home care in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Burlingame, San Mateo, Hillsborough, Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Lafayette, Orinda, and surrounding areas.
Source:
- The J’s Readers Vote Aviva In-Home Care San Francisco’s Best Home Care Agency for the Second Year in a Row! - November 21, 2024
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