Safe Senior on the Web - webinar
13 december 2024
On 12 December 2024, we were invited to the webinar “Safe Senior Online” organised by the MANKO Association.
The meeting was about the threats that seniors may face while using the Internet, especially in the pre-Christmas period, when online activity is growing, and fraudsters often use this time to take advantage of the seniors’ naivety and lack of experience in technology. Our goal was to raise awareness and equip participants with the necessary knowledge and tools to help them navigate the Internet safely.
We started the webinar by discussing the most common threats that seniors face on the Internet. In the pre-Christmas period, there is an increase in online scams, especially in the form of fake offers promoting products at attractive prices, which are aimed at extorting personal data, bank information or money.
Another significant threat is related to phishing attacks – fake e-mails that impersonate well-known institutions (banks, online stores, state authorities). Seniors who are not accustomed to recognizing this type of fraud attempts can easily fall victim to this type of manipulation.
During the webinar, we discussed key tips that will help seniors recognize suspicious messages, websites or offers. We paid particular attention to:
· poor quality of communication (e.g. grammar errors, strange wording, unprofessional looking pages),
· suspicious links in e-mails and text messages that lead to webpages looking like real websites, but with subtle differences in address,
· unexpected requests for personal or bank account information, especially in messages from unknown senders.
We also talked about cash on delivery scams, spoofing, fake shops, BLIK scams, courier scams and the use of artificial intelligence by cybercriminals.
At the end of the meeting, we discussed what we should do to avoid being deceived and where to report any cyberattacks.
