Anyone can fall for a scam, especially these days when scammers are using cutting-edge technology to improve their scams. But scammers often target seniors. Every year, seniors all over the country lose billions of dollars to scammers.
If your senior parent is living alone and you’re worried that they could fall prey to a scammer, there are some things you can do to help prevent that from happening. Talking to your senior parent about how to spot a scam is a good idea, as is getting home care assistance for them.
Home care assistance can help keep your mom or dad safe from scams in several different ways:
Getting The Mail
One way scammers target seniors is by demanding payment on bills that they don’t actually owe. Another is sending letters saying your mom or dad has won a trip or some kind of cash prize, but they need to pay fees or costs to collect their prize.
If a home care assistance provider is getting your mom or dad’s mail, they can weed out the junk mail and potential scam mail before your senior parent sees it.
Screening Calls
Another way that a home care assistance provider can also help protect your senior parent from scams is by screening their calls. Scam callers often hang up if someone else answers the phone. But if they don’t hang up, the care provider can make sure that the call is legitimate before giving the phone to your mom or dad.
Going Through Email Together
Phishing scams in emails are also very popular. When your senior parent gets an email from their bank or credit card company and clicks the link in the email, all of their financial and personal information can be stolen. A home care assistance caregiver can go through an email with your senior parent to help them remember not to click on links in emails. They can also make sure an email is from a reputable source.
Shredding Important Documents
When a home care assistance provider is helping your mom or dad go through their monthly bills, mail, and other papers, they can shred any bills or documents containing personal or financial information to ensure that none of that information can be stolen.
Going through trash to find someone’s personal information may be an old scam, but it still happens. That’s why any old insurance paperwork, banking paperwork, or other personal documents should be shredded and not just put out with the recycling.
Cell Phone Updates
If your senior parent has a cell phone, they need to run periodic updates to improve the security of the phone. If your mom or dad does any banking or shopping on their phone, those security updates can help keep their information safe. A home care assistance caregiver can make sure your senior parent keeps their cell phone updated.
If you or an aging loved one needs Home Care Assistance in Davis, CA, contact A Better Living Home Care today (916) 514-7006
Source:
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