Scam protection and online security help for seniors
Seniors are the number one target for online scams, and the scams are getting convincing. We clean up after them, and better, we set up practical protections beforehand. No fear talk and no lectures, just the same defenses we set up for our own family.
If something already happened
A popup that locked the screen, a call from a fake "Microsoft technician", a panicked family emergency call that did not add up. If you clicked, paid, or let someone connect to the computer, do not be embarrassed. These scams are written and rehearsed specifically to work on you: they know what to say, what to threaten, and how to rush you past your own good judgment. Contact us promptly and we will check the machine, remove anything that should not be there, change the passwords that matter, and help you contact the bank if money moved.
The protection visit
- Two-factor authentication on email, banking, and the accounts that matter most
- Password cleanup, moving from the sticky note to something both safer and easier
- Malware scans and removal, plus getting rid of sketchy programs and browser junk
- Spam and phishing filters tightened on email
- A plain-language talk about the current scams and the handful of rules that stop them
Two-factor authentication is the single best lock you can put on an account, and it is exactly the kind of thing that is miserable to set up alone. We do it together, make sure the codes arrive somewhere you can actually get them, and practice a login or two so it feels routine.
A rule worth putting on the refrigerator
Real companies do not call you about a virus. Not Microsoft, not Apple, not Amazon, not your bank asking you to move money to keep it safe. Anyone who does is reading a script in a call center that robs people. Hang up, then call a number you already trust. We tell every client the same thing, including that we never call out of the blue asking to connect. Sessions only happen when you contact us first.
Security work often pairs with a general computer cleanup, and anyone arranging this for a family member may want to read how we work with families.
Worried about a scam, or want to get ahead of one?
Whether something already happened or you just want the locks changed, we will handle it calmly and quickly.