Cyber Safety Tips for Seniors

February 10 was Safer Internet Day 2015. If you missed the festivities, now might be a good time to refresh on some good practices to stay safe when venturing out onto the World Wide Web. For seniors, Internet safety is especially important as they are appealing targets for scammers.

According to the FBI’s Scams & Safety Web page, seniors are highly targeted by scammers of all kinds because they are widely expected to have a nest egg saved up, own their own house and have excellent credit. Because children in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s were taught to be polite and trusting, scammers also expect older generations to be easier targets. Many scammers think seniors are even easier targets online because they did not grow up with today’s technology like younger generations did, and therefore scammers don’t think they will be as savvy about Internet safety and risks.

Seniors are also less likely to report scams. They either do not know who to report a scam to, or they are simply embarrassed. Whatever the reason, this tendency also puts seniors at higher risk.

The best way to protect your loved one from scammers is to educate him or her about what to look for. Here are three of the most common phishing scams targeting seniors:

• Scans using the name of well-known companies, like Microsoft
  These emails claim to represent a well-known company and may even look very much like the company by using company identifiers such as logos. These emails will make some sort of claim as a precursor to asking for personal information, such as your logon password.
• Scams that say you have won a lottery
  These emails will tell you that you have won a lottery, even though you did not enter one. They may try to align with a well-known company to try to look credible. Again, these emails will make a claim to try to get personal information from you—such as that they need your bank account number to deposit your winnings.
• Scams that pretend to be security software
  Also known as “scareware,” rogue security software claims to be effective security software, but does not actually protect the computer. Often, the software actually causes false security alerts—or worse, will lead you to make fraudulent transactions to gain personal information or take your money.



To report a scam, contact the FBI or submit a report online through the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Seniors, like all Internet users, will also benefit from general computer security practices such as using antivirus software, setting up a firewall, and never opening emails from unknown addresses or following links to unknown sites.