World Elder Abuse Awareness Day may have come and gone, but that doesn’t diminish the need for seniors to stay aware of the dangers lurking out there.
On Tuesday, Assistant Westchester County District Attorney Susan Brownbill-Vega gave a talk at “The Bristol at White Plains” assisted living facility about the dangers seniors face from Internet. The talk was held in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which took place on June 14.
Although of the people in attendance joked about how they’d feel safer keeping their money hidden in mattress than using a computer to conduct financial transactions, Vega explained that the dangers in cyberspace are no laughing matter.
Find out what's happening in White Plainsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“What you find is because many of the seniors lack technological skills, they can be fooled by some of the scams that are rising,” Vega said.
Vega said the county District Attorney’s Office frequently holds these talks for teens, but is ramping up its efforts for seniors. Although there are number of scams committed against seniors reported, Vega said it is hard to determine how many of the scams originate from the Internet.
Find out what's happening in White Plainsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The following are few tips for seniors that have been provided by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General:
Never trust a link sent to you by someone you don’t know. By clicking the link you may be taken to a site that may look like your bank or credit card company, but isn’t. One thing a criminal can’t fake is the actual Web site address of a company or bank. Instead of clicking a link in an e-mail, search for the Web address using a search engine to find the real one. Use that to ask the company about the message you received, or call using the number listed on your statements. Mark the real site as a favorite in your browser so that one click brings you there safely every time.
Never trust an e-mail that asks for your personal or account information (called a phishing scam). These usually seem convincing (the shabby ones have spelling errors, but the high quality scams look impeccable). No bank or reputable company is going to send you an e-mail asking you to correct your information, validate your identity, re-enter your password, and so on.
The smarter scams often contain text warning you against fraud. They do this because many people believe that an e-mail that warns them to be careful must be legitimate. That is not always true. This also extends to sites that claim they have protections in place for your privacy and security. Anybody can make these claims, but only certain sites protect you.
Never respond – or even open an e-mail with a deal that is too good to be true unless it is from a company that you know well and expect to get these kinds of offers from them. Scammers want you to react without taking time to think things through, so their e-mails frequently sound urgent, such as:
…“if we don’t hear by tomorrow your account will be closed” (and you’ll notice that the date of “tomorrow” never is listed).
…”this offer won’t last, order now to ensure”…
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
