This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. Every family situation is different, and you should consult with appropriate professionals about your specific circumstances.

Technology Safeguards — Call Blocking, Email Filtering, Account Alerts

Your parent's phone rings constantly with scam calls. Your parent gets dozens of emails from people claiming to be banks or tech companies. Your parent's computer is slow and might have malware. Your parent's accounts are vulnerable to hackers. All of these problems have technology solutions, but many people don't know these solutions exist or how to set them up.

Technology safeguards aren't perfect, and they don't prevent all fraud. But they reduce the volume of scams your parent is exposed to, they slow down potential fraud, and they alert your parent to suspicious activity. Combined with awareness and skepticism, these safeguards significantly reduce your parent's risk.

Understanding the Basics

Call blocking and filtering technology identifies likely scam calls and either blocks them or flags them for your parent to review. The technology works by identifying patterns of known scam phone numbers, by flagging numbers that use spoofing technology, or by using machine learning to identify calls that look like scams based on characteristics like calling patterns or the caller's behavior.

Different phone carriers offer different services. AT&T Call Protect, Verizon Call Filter, T-Mobile Scam Shield are services offered by major carriers. These services typically have free versions with basic protection and paid versions with stronger protection. Independent services like Nomorobo also exist and can be added to phone service.

Email filtering works similarly. Email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo automatically filter suspected phishing emails and spam into a spam folder. Additional filtering can be added through third-party services or security software.

Two-factor authentication requires two pieces of information to access an account. Your parent knows their password, but accessing the account also requires something only your parent has, like a code sent to their phone or generated by an authenticator app. This prevents hackers from accessing accounts even if they've stolen the password.

Account alerts notify your parent when unusual activity occurs. Your parent can set alerts for logins from new devices, for large transactions, for password changes, or for any number of suspicious activities. When an alert is triggered, your parent gets a notification and can take action if the activity wasn't authorized.

Antivirus and antimalware software protects your parent's computer from malicious software that can steal passwords, record keystrokes, or damage the computer. Installing and updating this software reduces your parent's risk of computer infection.

Your Parent's Specific Situation

How many scam calls is your parent receiving? If it's a few per week, call blocking might be optional. If it's multiple per day, call blocking is important. When volume is high, it's not just annoying, it's also more likely that your parent will slip up and answer one.

Is your parent receiving targeted scams or generic scams? If your parent is receiving calls from the "IRS" claiming your parent owes taxes, that's a generic scam targeting many people. If your parent is receiving calls from people who know details about your parent, that's more concerning. Both benefit from call blocking, but targeted scams might indicate that your parent's information was stolen and is circulating among scammers.

How tech-savvy is your parent? Can your parent understand and set up technology safeguards themselves, or do they need help? If your parent needs help, you'll need to assist or hire someone to help.

Does your parent have accounts that are important to protect? Does your parent have significant amounts of money online? Does your parent use email for sensitive communications? Does your parent do any shopping or banking online? The more important the accounts, the more protection makes sense.

How likely is your parent to use the tools if you set them up? If you set up two-factor authentication and your parent finds it too inconvenient and turns it off, it's not helpful. You need tools that your parent will actually use and tolerate.

Taking Next Steps

Call your parent's phone provider and ask about call-blocking services. Most carriers offer something. Ask whether it's included in your parent's plan or whether there's a fee. Understand how it works and what your parent will see when a call is blocked or flagged.

Help your parent enable call blocking if your parent needs help. Walk your parent through the steps or do it for your parent if they're not comfortable with technology.

For email, talk to your parent about not clicking links in unexpected emails. If an email claims to be from a bank asking your parent to verify information, your parent should go directly to the bank's website or call the bank rather than clicking a link in the email. Email filtering can help, but skepticism is the best defense against phishing.

Set up two-factor authentication on your parent's important accounts. Email is the most important. If a hacker gets your parent's email password and email has two-factor authentication, the hacker still can't access the email. That protects all of your parent's other accounts that use email to reset passwords. Banking and investment accounts should also have two-factor authentication if your parent has significant money in them.

Understand that two-factor authentication can be inconvenient. Every time your parent logs in from a new device or your parent's phone settings change, they might need to re-verify. Help your parent understand why this is worth the inconvenience, or find authentication methods that your parent finds less cumbersome.

Set up account alerts on financial accounts for transactions above a certain amount. Your parent should be alerted to any large transfer or withdrawal. This gives your parent a chance to catch unauthorized activity quickly.

Make sure your parent's antivirus software is up to date. If your parent is using old security software or no security software, they're vulnerable to malware. Windows Defender (built into Windows computers) and Apple's built-in protections (on Mac computers) are often sufficient. Make sure they're enabled and updated.

Consider hiring a professional to help your parent set up these protections if you're not comfortable doing it yourself. A local computer repair shop or an IT consultant can help your parent secure devices and accounts.

Help your parent create strong passwords if your parent is willing to do so. "Password" and "12345" and your parent's birth year are not strong passwords. Strong passwords are long, use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers and symbols, and are hard to guess. A password manager can help your parent remember complex passwords without having to write them down.

Explain to your parent what these protections do without being condescending. "This will help you avoid scam calls." "This will let you know if someone tries to use your account without permission." "This will slow down a hacker even if they steal your password." Your parent is more likely to use these protections if they understand what they do.

Technology safeguards work best in combination with awareness. A blocked scam call is good, but a scam call that your parent doesn't fall for even if it gets through is also good. Two-factor authentication is strong, but a parent who doesn't share their password is also protected. Account alerts help, but a parent who monitors accounts helps too. The technology and the human awareness together protect your parent much better than either alone.

How To Help Your Elders is an educational resource. We do not provide medical, legal, or financial advice. The information in this article is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. If you are concerned about a loved one's cognitive health or safety, consult with their healthcare provider or contact your local Area Agency on Aging for guidance and support.