Most recently she was scammed out of $130 by a “make money from home” scheme. She said, “Well after I entered my information then saw how much it cost it wouldn’t let me cancel”. She was so heartbroken and I had to loan her money to help with bills because the scammers overdrew her checking account. Unfortunately, this is far from the first time it has happened. She falls for scams that a savvy web surfer recognizes as a scam at first glance. A few years ago I had to work so hard to convince her she had NOT won the Microsoft UK Lottery and that no such lottery exists, and she still thinks I made her miss her chance to collect her millions. She is 56 years old and from a more innocent world and I’m afraid she is not prepared for the unregulated frontier that is the Internet. The biggest problem is that she is stubborn and takes offense when I try to offer any advice for safer web surfing. She gets hundreds of spam emails a day because she gives her email address to anyone. I’ve installed Firefox and taught her how to use it, and she claims to like it, yet every time I see her online she’s using IE anyway. She refuses to use PayPal instead of entering her bank account details on various websites because she has the wrong idea of how PayPal works and she won’t take any advice from me because she feels like anyone who is trying to teach her anything is belittling her. Especially when her pride is damaged from being scammed yet again. I’m not the best teacher but I’ve been very patient and have not belittled her about anything. How can I protect her? Is there some kind of anti-fraud software or parental control software I could install which will filter out even potential scam sites, without interfering with her safe surfing too much? What are my best options people? I’m at my wits end here.
How can I protect my stubborn mother from online scams?
Published By admin On Saturday, June 5th 2010 Under Millionaires Tags: From, Mother, Online, protect, Scams, stubborn
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Make sure that Smart Screen Filter is turned “on” in her beloved Internet Explorer. (I think it is called “Phishing Filter” if she is still using IE-7.) This will help guard against some, not all phishing attempts….of course she must heed the advice as well.
SiteAdvisor can also help…
“McAfee SiteAdvisor warns you before you interact with a dangerous Web site. Traditional security products focus on trying to clean up problems after they occur.”
“McAfee SiteAdvisor also complements and enhances your existing security software by detecting threats which traditional security products often miss, including spyware attacks, online scams, and sites that spam you”
Free from http://www.siteadvisor.com/
As one who is 56 myself and who has never lost one red cent, nor has ever been scammed, never even had a computer virus, I find your ageist attitude that middle aged people are somehow too stupid to navigate the internet without the aid of a younger “Nanny” looking over our shoulder, both elitist and appalling.
Perhaps your mother senses your obvious ageism and is saying, “Back off, I’ll do as I damn well please!”
Anyway, good luck.
I would suggest:
1. Make use of Firefox mandatory.
2. Just delete IE shortcuts from the desktop and start menu. Also make Firefox the default browser.
3. Install Spy-Bot Search & Destroy(free). Install and regularly update its Tea-time scanner (For IE)
4. Install Mcaffee Site Advisor (free). (It helps differentiate good and bad sites). Set it to by default block out bad sites.
5. Site Advisor makes bad site links in search results RED. Make sure that you explain to your mom that Red is BAD.
6. If you can spare some money install Avira AntiVir Suite/Avast. (Its a good Anti-Virus (can use free edition too) but Suite has Parental Control and Spam Filter)
7. Make sure your Mom uses Gmail or Yahoo. (GMail’s spam protection is very good)
If possible use Outlook or Thunderbird to just download emails in Inbox Folder of the online Web based Email provider. (That way any files in spam folder are not downloaded)
8. Make your Moms Windows Account a Non-Admin.
9. Install AdBlockPlus Firefox addon. (It blocks Ads. many Ads are malicious and tend to make false claims)
FYI not sure what bank your mother uses but she should be able to recoup the loss due to fraudulent actions. I would look into that if it has not been too long ago.
Take her to the site:
http://www.419eater.com
and let her read up on the scammers. Otherwise, take her internet away from her…
Check the firefox settings, make sure it is the default browser instead of IE…
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