Don't Be the Victim of Cyber Fraud

LIVING IN RETIREMENT - PEOPLE AGE 50 AND OVER ARE TARGETED MORE FREQUENTLY THAN OTHER AGE GROUPS FOR INTERNET SCAMS.

- Janet Bodnar

Eric Iversen is vice president, learning and communications, for Start Engineering and author of How to Be Cyber Safe + Savvy, a guide for seniors commissioned by the National Cryptologic Foundation. It’s available at www .cybersafeandsavvy.com for $10.95.

Why a guide specifically aimed at seniors?

Navigating the online world is a learned skill for seniors, and their lack of automatic expertise makes them more vulnerable to trickery and deceit. People age 50 and over are targeted more frequently than other age groups for internet scams. We want them to know they should care for their data in the same way they care for their health.

What’s the best way to gain confidence when using devices?

Designing devices that are bigger and faster does not equate to making them easy to use, so blame the technology, not yourself. Don’t be afraid to try things out. It’s reasonable to fear that everything is going to disappear, but every operation is such a small increment of change that it’s almost impossible for that to happen.

Is turning off and rebooting a smart strategy?