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Comment by legohead | Hacker News Reader

Wish they'd do something about internet scammers. One of them got my mom to pay $150 and she lives off disability. She asks me all the time about these messages she gets about how her computer is damaged and to call a number. I tell her not to, but she has dementia and forgets. These assholes are preying specifically on our old population.

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My parents aren't equipped to deal with the amount of deceit online. They grew up in a different time. For example, my mom went online to buy flowers and didn't realize the top ads on Google are all scams where they overcharge you and forward your order to a real local shop.

Or how about the Marketplace investigation into fake locksmiths in the GTA?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/locksmith-google-maps-reviews...

Fake ads for fake businesses with fake products and fake reviews. Go internet!

That’s why I gave all my elders iPads.

I don't get why this is downvoted. This is exactly what I did. Reduce the attack surface as much as possible

I didn't downvote it, but remote control of your PC is only a subset of the scams. So, helpful to have them use an iPad or Chromebook, but not a panacea.

Defense in depth of the vulnerable. Being a trusted contact at financial institutions and having access and authority to screen and monitor calls are also components.

People can be monsters (as the story mentions). Prepare accordingly.

Websites telling you that your computer is broken will load just as well on mobile Safari as they do on desktop Safari. I've clicked a search result link that has redirected to them before on iOS myself.

Maybe if the scammer's script absolutely insists you use remote-desktop you might get lucky, but scammers can still scam without remoting in to your computer.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. This is a legitimate solution for the vast majority of use cases.

I hope this happens while I'm in the presence of an elderly relative. I will pick up the phone, naively try to get them to give me any personal info, and record the receiver with my phone. Then I'll inform them I've just done that.

I'm not sure if that's the point of an iPod, though - those scams go a lot further than remote computer access.

Simply making my elders accounts non-administrator worked really well for me.

sticky on her monitor / laptop screen to call you when some internet stranger asks her to dial some random number?

Serious question, from an anxious person whose parents are nearing "that age": Is it normal for a person with dementia to have control of their finances, to the point where they can give large amounts of money away?

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