How to Protect the Elderly from Scams

At Right at Home Harrow: Pinner, Rusilip & Northwood, we understand how elderly individuals may be targeted by scammers. We have written this guide to raise awareness about the different types of scams and to try to prevent you or a loved one from being a target.

Common Types of Scams

Telephone - Scammers could ring up and try to get your personal information or persuade you to buy products that you don't need.

What to do:

• Check the caller ID/number to make sure it is who they say they are. You can check the number on Google to see what company it belongs to.
• Block repetitive calls or people who are being persistent to get your details over the phone (such as a bank PIN).

Online/Email - You may receive emails asking you to click a link which takes you onto a fake website whilst they're pretending to be a legitimate business.

What to do:

• Use a strong password for all of your accounts to prevent them from being hacked.
• Don't click on random links, always check if they're legitimate and who they're coming from.
• Check the web address of a website before putting in any details. Secure websites always start with https:// (s stands for secure).

Door-to-Door - Scammers may knock on your door whilst pretending to be someone else to get money from you.

What to do:

• Before opening the door, check if you're expecting someone today. Gas/electric companies usually schedule a time/date before entering your home and if they don't, check their ID badge.
• Dial 999 in an emergency or 101 if you're not in immediate danger but want to report the incident.

Relationship Scams - Some scammers pretend to be someone they're not, to try and form a pretend relationship to get money from you. It is especially common for scammers to pretend to be celebrities and trick people into sending them money.

What to do:

• Report or block someone who is suspicious or makes you feel unsafe.
• Don't send money to someone you've never met in person.
• Check if the profile is legitimate. People can use fake profile pictures of other people. To check this, you can copy the image into Google to see if the image is used elsewhere.