Words Sherrin Griffin, Sidney Senior Care
As I was making my coffee this morning, our phone rang – our land line. When I answered it, I heard the tell-tale pause before the caller at the other end spoke. “Hello. This is Abdeer; I’m calling about your PC security.”
“Wrong number,” I responded. “I don’t have a PC.” Then I hung up, annoyed again by the plethora of imposter phone calls claiming to be from a bank, credit card, utility or computer software company that they are hoping we deal with. Quite often, the call is an obvious sham as it was this morning, but occasionally, they hit gold and it’s a services match.
Similarly, I’m astonished at the amount of scam emails that arrive in my inbox every day. A few years ago, these insidious emails were fairly easy to detect. More crudely put together, often without a legitimate-looking company identity and some amateur typos, it was pretty obvious that they were not from my customary banking institution, computer software or utility company that send my usual transaction confirmations, bills and statements. The originating email addresses usually resembled nonsensical personal emails rather than authentic companies.
These days, email predators have become much more tech savvy, armed with the tools, software and IT expertise to mimic the email style and content of legitimate companies. Even the email addresses they come from appear pretty darn close to the real thing.
Unfortunately, fraudulent calls and emails are becoming more frequent, persistent and even aggressive, and I wonder, if I am almost convinced, how do we protect more vulnerable sectors of our society such as seniors? They can be easier prey due to social isolation, greater trust, potential cognitive issues and less familiarity with technology, making them more susceptible to scams (romance/relationship, grandparent, tech support, lottery, gift cards, etc.) and investment fraud.
Typically, imposter phone calls and emails are looking to gain access to personal details and/or financial information, by building trust or using scare tactics. If you do not recognize the phone number or email address, here are some suggestions to avoid fraudulent activity:
- End the phone call/delete the suspicious email without clicking on any buttons or links (even if it says that your account is immediately suspended unless you click the button to “retry payment” or a similar “Act now or else!” request). Legitimate requests do not use scare tactics or urgency to take immediate action and/or send money.
- Validate the request using a known/trusted phone number (ie. directly from your bill/statement or service provider) to confirm or negate the content of the call/email.
- Google the suspicious phone number/email address and/or the specific request and see whether it is associated with fraudulent behaviour that others have warned of and reported.
- Check your Call Display/Caller ID before you answer your phone. If you don’t recognize the number, you can choose to not answer it. Fraudsters do not typically leave messages, or if they do, they are usually nonsensical. Another option is reviewing your phone’s CID (Calling Identity Delivery), accessible via a button or menu option labeled “CID” or “Call History,” a service that displays the caller’s phone number and sometimes their name/company, often marked as “NEW” if you haven’t encountered it before.
We can further protect our senior loved ones by educating and informing them about common scam tactics, advising them to never give out their personal or financial information over the phone or email, securing their phones and computers with filters/ blocks to avoid unwanted contact, and by establishing a “safe” word to protect from those impersonating family or friends.
