Tips for Seniors for Staying Safe Online

A great portion of senior citizens is quite active online. They are using the internet for a wide variety of tasks. The email and Skype family and friends and use Google and various other search tools for information. In addition, many seniors use the internet for the purchase of medications, clothes, and groceries, etc. The World Wide Web offers great benefits for seniors. However, there are also a number of risks involved in going online. Awareness of these risks and knowing how to prevent them is necessary.

Risks of Being Online

If you are using the internet, you need to vary the factors mentioned below.

• Offers of free gifts, vacations, and other prizes, especially those that proclaim “You are a Winner!!”
• Offers of discount prescription medications or deals that you “should really not miss”.
• Letters or messages from friends’ accounts, but not in the writing style of the friends. This is because your friends’ emails have been hacked into.
• Bogus government official agencies requesting personal information.
• Using urgent messages, such as, “Hurry” or “Deal Expires” to push you into making hasty decisions.

How to Avoid Online Scams

It is necessary to avoid internet scams in order to safeguard yourself. Therefore, consider the following information.

• Keep your computer up-to-date with virus guards and always enable the auto-update option.
• If you are using a wireless router, including a secure password so that no one can hack into it.
• Keep your passwords long and strong. Use numbers, uppercase, and lowercase letters, etc.
• Always think before you do something. Banks and other government organizations will never ask you to provide personal information via email. So, you need to think about this before providing any.
• Avoid clicking on links in messages you don’t trust. This is an easy way for scammers to access your computer.
• Whatever you post online should be done with great caution. Think twice about giving out confidential information.
• Always enter information when banking or shopping to sites that say https://. This is a security feature that makes this site 100% safe.

These are some of the concerns and ways of staying safe online. Take these tips into consideration and you will be able to stay safe from scammers.

This article is by ActiveAdultLiving.com®, the website with more than 8,500 active adult and lifestyle communities in the US and Canada.