{"id":11943,"date":"2017-05-22T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=11943"},"modified":"2020-10-14T11:01:16","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:01:16","slug":"what-is-social-engineering-how-does-put-your-parents-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2017\/05\/what-is-social-engineering-how-does-put-your-parents-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"What is ‘Social Engineering’ and How Does It Put Your Parents at Risk?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is ‘Social Engineering’ and How Does It Put \"What<\/a>Your Parents at Risk?<\/h1>\n

The internet can be a great place to socialize, shop, and bank, but in the age of spam, bots, and scammers, sharing personal information with \u201conline friends\u201d can lead to hacked passwords and drained bank accounts. Here’s what you and your parents need to know about keeping private information safe while socializing online.<\/p>\n

What is social engineering?<\/h2>\n

In the most general terms, social engineering is pretending to be someone you’re not in order to trick people into doing something that will harm them. On social networks, in emails, and even over the phone, social-engineering scammers pretend to be their targets’ friends, banks, favorite stores, and even family members to bilk victims out of money or trick them into handing over account passwords.<\/p>\n

Why are seniors at risk for social engineering scams?<\/h2>\n

Anyone with internet access or a phone can be the target of social engineering scammers, but seniors are at particular risk<\/b><\/a> for two reasons, according to information security expert Daniel Miessler. The first is that older people tend to have more money saved up than younger people do, which right away makes them more tempting targets. The other reason scammers go after seniors is because as we age, our judgment may decline, which makes it harder to spot scams before it’s too late.<\/p>\n

How can you protect yourself from online scams?<\/h2>\n

It’s easy to get so comfortable online that we forget it’s still a public place, one where our words can easily be captured for posterity and shared with strangers. The same rules that apply life offline can help you avoid social scammers.<\/p>\n