Guides Daily After 50 Decoded

Free · 7 days · 10 minutes a day

The 7-Day Scam-Proof Family

Scammers are professionals, and anyone can be caught off guard. This is one small step a day, for you or to do with mom and dad. The goal is a family plan, not a lecture.

Nobody who gets scammed is foolish. These are full-time criminals with good scripts. If you are helping a parent, offer; they decide.

Day 1 · 10 minutes

The family code word

The FTC has warned that scammers can imitate a loved one's voice using a short audio clip. A call that sounds exactly like your grandchild may not be. A code word is the simplest answer: it is a password a recording can't know.

  1. Pick a word or phrase no one could guess from social media. Not a pet name, a birthday or a street.
  2. Share it face to face, or by a paper note. Not by text or email.
  3. Agree on the rule: anyone who asks for money or urgent help by phone says the word first, even if the voice is perfect.

Say it like this: "It's not that I don't trust you. It's like a fire drill: we practice before we need it."

Day 2 · 5 minutes

Hang up, then call back

Caller ID can be faked, so a number that looks like your bank or a government office proves nothing. Real banks and agencies are fine with you calling back. Scammers aren't, because the pressure to act now is the whole trick.

  1. Practice one sentence out loud: "I'll hang up and call you back." Then do exactly that.
  2. Call the number on the back of your card, on a statement or on the official website. Never the number the caller or a text gave you.
  3. Tell the family: if you ever freeze on a call, hanging up is always okay. It is never rude.

Remember: real emergencies survive a 5-minute call back. Scams are built to make sure you don't make one.

Day 3 · 10 minutes

Let your phone screen the calls

The fewer scam calls ring through, the fewer chances to be caught off guard. Two settings do most of the work.

  1. On iPhone: Settings, Phone, Silence Unknown Callers. On Android: Phone app, Settings, Caller ID and spam, turn on spam filtering.
  2. Check your carrier's free call-blocking tools. Most carriers offer some.
  3. On a landline: ask your provider about call blocking, or use a call blocker device. Let unknown calls go to voicemail. Real people leave a message.

Know: the National Do Not Call Registry stops legal telemarketers, but scammers ignore it. Screening is your real defense.

Helps: a call blocker device for a landline: the easy way to stop the calls. See on Amazon →

Day 4 · 15 minutes

Freeze your credit (it's free)

A credit freeze stops anyone from opening a new account in your name. By federal law it is free, and the FTC says it doesn't affect your credit score. You lock the front door and keep the key.

  1. Freeze at all three bureaus, separately: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Each has a freeze page on its website, and a phone line.
  2. Save each PIN or login on paper. Keep it with your important papers.
  3. When you need to apply for credit, lift the freeze for a few days, then turn it back on.

Doing this for a parent: offer to sit with them and let them type. It's their credit and their decision.

Helps: a cross-cut paper shredder for statements and pre-approved offers. See on Amazon →

Day 5 · 15 minutes

Lock your email and bank

Email is the master key: anyone who gets into it can reset the password to almost everything else. Two-step verification adds a second lock.

  1. Turn on two-step verification (also called 2FA) for your email first, then your bank and any payment app.
  2. Choose a long password you can remember: four unrelated words work well. Write your passwords in a paper book and keep it at home.
  3. Never read a code to anyone who calls or texts you. A real company never asks for it.

Rule: the code is for you alone. Anyone who asks you to read it back is a scammer.

Helps: a large print password book, so passwords live on paper, not on sticky notes. See on Amazon →

Day 6 · 5 minutes

Gift cards, crypto and wire transfers

The FTC says: anyone who demands payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer or payment app is a scammer. Every time. Real agencies and utilities don't demand those payments, and they don't threaten arrest over the phone.

  1. Write the rule on a sticky note by the phone: "A caller asks me to pay by gift card, crypto or wire? Scam. Always."
  2. If someone on the phone says to buy cards, or to move money "to keep it safe", hang up and call a family member.
  3. If you already paid, it isn't your fault. Call your bank right away, then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI at ic3.gov. The AARP Fraud Watch Network helpline, 877-908-3360, is free.

Remember: the sooner you tell your bank, the more options you have. Don't wait out of embarrassment.

Day 7 · 20 minutes

Your one-page family plan

Six defenses. One page, so everyone knows what to do and who to call.

  1. Take a sheet of paper. Write two family phone numbers and the rule "hang up and call back". Leave the code word off the page if you prefer to say it aloud.
  2. Tick off what's done: call screening (Day 3), credit freeze (Day 4), two-step verification (Day 5).
  3. Add the rule from Day 6, and where to report: ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. Put the page by the phone, or send a photo to the family.

Check yourself: did everyone get the plan, including the grandkids? Review it once a year, and after any scam attempt.

Keep going

Keep Scam Shield: 12 red flags + what to say by the phone. Every week we send one new 2-minute idea like these. Reply to any email and tell us what happened on your last odd call. We read every one.

General information based on guidance from the FTC, AARP Fraud Watch Network and FBI IC3. Not legal or financial advice. Some links are Amazon affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.