3 Tips to Protect an Aging Parent’s Identity

When it comes to fraud, identity thieves don’t really care what age their victims may be. They prey on not-so-tech-savvy targets, which may be the reason fraud is the number one crime committed against seniors in Canada.

As the child of an aging parent, you don’t have to wait for them to be victimized by the newest phishing scam to pop up. Here are three steps you can take to protect them now.

Gift Them a Subscription to a Password Manager

Grandparents love to choose passwords with sentimental meaning for all their key password-protected accounts. While it may be easy for seniors to remember a clever alphanumeric mix of their first grandchild’s name, using that same password on multiple accounts invites hackers to raid their bank accounts, run up their credit cards, and open a variety of new accounts with your parent’s social security number. Instead, buy your parents a subscription to a user-friendly password manager like Dashlane or LastPass. For a few dollars a month, these apps will generate unique passwords for all your parent’s accounts and make it easy for them to access them from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Stay Abreast of the Latest Phishing Scams

Scammers are getting more and more clever by the minute. They can easily make websites that look almost identical to your parent’s banking institution and trick them into logging in and divulging personal information that can be used to make a real financial mess for your parent. These scams may not be on your parent’s radar, but they can be on yours. Check out scam alert websites like FraudWatchInternational.com for the latest phishing scams. Then, share the details with your parents so they can be on guard should they run across these scams online.

Encourage Your Parents to Use Private Browsing

All the top Internet browsers now offer private browsing modes, which keep websites from copying cookies and storing your parent’s user IDs and passwords. Take a few minutes on the weekend to show your parents how to private browse when they’re viewing sensitive financial information online.

Your parent’s insurance broker is also a great resource for identity protection. He or she can recommend an affordable identity protection plan that minimizes the financial risk to your parent in the event sensitive information gets into the wrong hands.

Have any questions? We can help.

Contact us—we can help you access and use your MyMills portal and app.
Tollfree: 800-953-0999   Phone: 416-489-5570    Email: contactus@millsinsurancebrokers.ca