On 11 February, it’s Safer Internet Day. This is a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge on how to keep not only yourself and your staff safe from online scams and cyber risks, but your care home residents too. Online scams rare growing increasingly sophisticated, and it can be harder to spot them, especially when you are in a rush. However, there are ways to help people remain vigilant to cyber risks and spot signs that things may not be quite as they seem.
Here are some ways to help your care home residents stay safe from scams, and help your staff keep an eye out for risks online.
Email attention
Most of us send and receive emails all the time, using this fats and efficient form of communication to keep in touch with friends and family, make arrangements to meet people, book tickets and do business with organisations. Yet fraudsters can use our trust in emails to gain sensitive personal information and get us to click on links that take us to scam websites.
Take time to discuss the different email fraud activities with your residents, including phishing – scammers pretending to be from a trusted person or organisation – and including dodgy links in the body of an email. Make sure your residents know never to click on suspicious links, nor to reveal personal details, such as user names, passwords, bank details etc. Urge them to come to a member of staff if they are unsure about anything.
Website warnings
Remind residents (and staff) to always look at a website with their critical thinking caps on, especially if they are visiting it for the first time. Some cyber risk red flags include poor spelling or grammar, unfamiliar website addresses – always check these carefully before proceeding with any transactions. Use Google or a similarly trustworthy search engine to find a website, or type the address in manually to help cut out the fraudulent sites from your search.
If a resident is keen to buy something online, help them look up reviews of the seller first to make sure they are not operating a well-known scam. Check that there are full terms and conditions on the website that give details about refunds, delivery times and any additional taxes that are due. Use the procurement tool on Care Vision, if relevant, to see if you can find the same thing being sold by a trusted supplier, possibly for less money.
Viruses and malware
Computer viruses, or malware, can cause absolute chaos on your computer or internet-connected device if left to run rampant. They can erase data, cause programs not to run properly, send out spam emails from your account and even shut down the entire system. Criminals can take control of the system and demand ransom payments to release it. While malware can get onto an IT system via someone clicking on a bad link in an email or on a website, they can also be installed in other ways.
The good news is that the more you learn about cyber risks and scams, the less likely it will be that you will be fooled by someone trying to gain access to your computer through nefarious means. Never accept help from a cold caller who claims to be able to fix your computer. If you do get a call from someone like this, hang up and do not engage with them. If you are concerned about your computer not working properly, contact a reputable repair specialist.
Romance scams
Older and vulnerable people can sometimes fall victim to a so-called romance scam online. This is when a scammer pretends to be someone who is romantically interested in the person they have contacted in a bid to extract money, gifts or even a visa from them. They send flattering emails or messages over social media and claim to be falling in love at a rapid speed. There are often excuses why they cannot meet in person, or why they suddenly need to be sent large sums of money. The latter scenario is usually accompanied by a sob story designed to garner sympathy and evoke a quick reply.
Encourage residents to talk about any approaches of this nature to a trusted friend, relative or staff member. While it is tempting to be swept up in all the flattery, always keep a level head and watch out for requests for money or help. Sometimes, there can be more than one person involved in the scam, taking it in turns to send romantic messages, so never, ever take these approaches seriously and block them as soon as possible.