My husband's grandpa has gotten into trouble with the super obvious scams several times now. For example, he just fell for the ol' "I transferred too much money to you; can you buy a bunch of gift cards and send me the info so I can get the money back" scam. His family is thinking about different ways to stop this from happening again.
Grandpa is okay with the idea of being monitored in some ways, so my first thought was something like a kid's tablet, where they can only visit certain sites and/or be monitored 24/7/365 to prevent as much of the scamming as possible. Problem being that we don't want to limit him too much nor do we want to offend him with "kiddy" things.
His family suspects he is starting to have dementia, but he's a bit too stubborn to let anyone help him more directly... I am not looking forward to my husband getting old, but I can just prod him to let people help him. Been doing it for years 😂
Anyway, is there anything elderly friendly that still protects him from the sketchy sites? It has to be more than just an indicator since he's been told to call my husband (works in IT, specifically in security) if he's trying to do ANYTHING with money via the internet/phone and obviously doesn't. Unsure if he's forgetting that he's supposed to do that, being too stubborn to do that, or a combination. Regardless, it's not working. Help.
Telecalm is not cheap - but it gives the caregiver control over what calls go through. It has an app that you can use to track usage. It is a special phone and their claim is that it blocks late night calls, repeated calls, prevents 911 abuse, and 100% of scam calls. If they are getting any other kinds - texts or emails for examples - if that type of app is on the phone the caregiver can control access. Likely by must removing the application. They claim to protect users from outgoing call problems and is able to restrict incoming calls to ONLY trusted contacts.
In addition, it gives the caregiver control over what is on the phone and who they can talk to using the phone.
Again, I have never personally used the service. But my BFF used it for her mother and could not say enough good things about it.
If they are still using the internet on a computer or tablet - you can look for parental controls.
One critical thing will be for your Grandpa to assign a PoA. Maybe it's already your husband. If Grandpa has a PoA, then this person needs to read their PoA document to see what is required to trigger the authority. Usually it is one official medical diagnosis of sufficient impairment. The PoA will need to take him for his free annual Medicare wellness check. Prior to the appointment the PoA needs to discretely get a note to the staff (or through the medical portal) to perform a memory test. Based on those results, further testing can be ordered, like a MoCA test which will measure his executive functioning (judgment). But you already know the outcome to this test since he's falling for scams. The PoA just needs the diagnosis on the clinic letterhead and signed by his primary physician.
Hopefully Grandpa isn't still driving. Even if he's physically sound, his impaired executive functioning can cause him to do some dangerous or ill-advised things on the road.
Grandpa can be given a reloadable cc and an allowance. His checking account should only have the minimum of funds to cover any bills and auto payments. ALl other money should be in less accessible accounts like savings.
He should not be on the internet. Sorry. Give him an iPad or Grandpad. Get him a Raz mobility phone that is controlled by the PoA or caregiver (this is what I have for my Mom, plus my old iPad with no internet connection).
If Grandpa doen't yet have a PoA assigned, a Advance Healthcare Directive, Pre-need Guardian form, and Last Will, then some one of his adult children need to help encourage him to do this soon. Otherwise he risks becoming a ward of a court-assigned 3rd party guardian.
He won't like any of it but his kids should read some of the nightmares other families have been through with out-of-control elders with dementia. He could connect with one of the many experienced financial predators who know how to pull off romance scams, marry him, get him to assign them as his PoA, then literally drain every single penny out of him and his estate as his family watches helplessly from the sidelines.