Scam texts are a growing concern for older adults, particularly those with memory issues. These texts can lead to financial losses and emotional distress. Rob from Kennesaw, Georgia, is dealing with this exact situation with his 81-year-old mother, who has mild dementia and uses her iPhone for nearly everything.

Understanding the Problem

Rob’s mother receives numerous scam texts daily, which can be financially disastrous. Despite having the new iOS text filter on, she still opens the filtered texts and starts looking through them, often clicking on links and making purchases she doesn’t need. Rob has already disputed charges and gotten the money refunded, but the texts continue to come.

Protecting Your Loved Ones

To protect older adults from scam texts, it’s essential to tighten their phone’s security settings. For iPhone users, this can be done by setting up Screen Time controls, specifically the Communication Limits feature, which limits who can contact them. Additionally, removing saved cards from iPhone Wallet and turning off saved credit cards in Safari can add friction and prevent bad clicks from becoming charges.

For Android users, similar steps can be taken, such as turning on spam protection in Google Messages and blocking and reporting scam texts. It’s also crucial to explore additional features like Digital Wellbeing and parental controls to reduce risk.

Furthermore, contacting the cell carrier to add the strongest SMS spam and scam blocking to the line can help reduce the number of scam texts received. If the texts continue, blocking the sender and reporting the message as junk can also be effective.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.