I was thinking about this after the post about the sheriff (see my comment history).
For context, the scam involves using stolen information and AI voice fakes in order to convince someone that their friend / family member is calling about some trouble that they need money for. Read more:
- https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/seniors/financial-legal-matters/scams-and-fraud/grandparent-scams
- https://thewalrus.ca/grandparent-scam/
I’ve talked to my older friends / family, but I worry that they might overestimate their ability to notice the scam. I think it would be a lot more effective to show them how easy it is and what it might sound like.
However, even on this post, I don’t want people to share resources that scammers could then use to hurt more people. So far I’ve thought of:
- videos comparing the real person to the fake call
- sharing info over DMs
- a more complicated setup where community orgs set up a station where people can attend in person to try it out
The approach we’ve taken is to talk to our aging parents and relatives to make a plan in advance.
We gave them a half page card with instructions on what to do if you get such a call. It starts with a reminder that these calls are often fake and then says to always call a trusted family member before sending anyone anything. It includes a list of trusted family members to call.
We made sure to put it on their fridges so its easy to locate when needed.