Learn ways to prevent others from gaining unauthorized network access after a grandparent fell victim to a scam.
Learn ways to prevent others from gaining unauthorized network access after a grandparent fell victim to a scam.
I'm not sure where to share this, but since it's about connecting with others, I'll post it here. My younger sibling was tricked by a phone scam pretending to be from Amazon—it was a real scam that worked surprisingly well. She ended up having her laptop accessed remotely, and she realized it was a scam right away. I helped her stop the process by turning off the device immediately. I'm planning to completely wipe the system, reset all passwords, and secure the router ports. We also informed her bank and other relevant parties about the situation.
In this case, do you have any tools that can prevent unauthorized access to her laptop? Ideally, something that blocks intruders without requiring constant interaction or updates. She mainly uses her laptop for email, social media, and watching church services—she doesn’t need anything intrusive. A background monitoring solution would be best, so she never has to deal with it directly. I'm thinking of options like Glasswire, but I’m not sure if there’s a better alternative. A quiet, always-present safeguard that works in the background would be perfect. Any suggestions would mean a lot!
We're aiming for a more familiar interface, not complex changes. Simple updates like a new logo would be confusing for her. At 84, her memory is limited, making it tough to learn new systems. For example, when Edge switched its logo, she struggled to locate the internet button—similar challenges we face now. We need something I can oversee or run quietly so she doesn’t have to engage with it directly. Would Windows offer a comparable approach? I’d like to set limits on what she can install or download, essentially using a child lock feature.
She could be assigned a non-admin account, which would prevent her from installing software.
She's definitely not an admin. Keep practicing until it sticks. Everyone should know they don't have access to your personal info. I get it—this is really frustrating. My dad-in-law goes the same way. I've had to prepare paperwork for corporate settings to prevent this from occurring.
It's really annoying. We've repeatedly told her to hang up and call the company's support line, but she keeps ignoring us or gets tricked, especially when we canceled her Amazon Prime and someone claimed to be from Amazon contacted her about a refund. She thinks it makes sense, even though it's obvious call centers aren't part of Amazon's setup. I'm planning to reconfigure her phone settings so only trusted sites are accessible, locking out most others. Microsoft accounts might show network activity, possibly to monitor things. I'm hoping the new phone line changes will prevent further targeting and stop her from gaining access again.