What is the best way to show someone what the grandparent scam will sound like, without also making it easier for someone to pull the scam?

Submitted ⁨⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨otter@lemmy.ca⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I was thinking about this after the post about the sheriff (see my comment history).

For context, the scam involves using stolen information and AI voice fakes in order to convince someone that their friend / family member is calling about some trouble that they need money for. Read more:

I’ve talked to my older friends / family, but I worry that they might overestimate their ability to notice the scam. I think it would be a lot more effective to show them how easy it is and what it might sound like.

However, even on this post, I don’t want people to share resources that scammers could then use to hurt more people. So far I’ve thought of:

videos comparing the real person to the fake call
sharing info over DMs
a more complicated setup where community orgs set up a station where people can attend in person to try it out

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Comments

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hansolo@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
This is a huge problem, and I’m glad you’re asking this question.

Old people really really hate feeling like they’re behind in terms of knowledge. “I’m older and so I’m smarter!” is how they raised their children. So, you really need a demo to shock them into being willing to learn and drop the ego. Not to prove them wrong, but to demo how sinister and believable these things are. Don’t make them feel stupid. Show them what they’re up against.

Personally, I would find either a soundboard (Elon Musk might be easy, as tons of scammers use him and Boomers love him) or see if you can find a free or cheap voice clone app and clone your own voice, or one of your parents. Then call them when you know you or your parents will be around so that they are on the call and trusting it’s a loved one, then the loved one is there and not on the phone and aware of what’s going on.

Not only would this shock them into thinking “well, maybe it’s worse than I thought. They already got me once!” But might also give them a story to tell their friends that will help spread the idea.

Then you lay out basic tools and procedures like are suggested here already. Passwords or code words, helpful cards around the house with questions to ask and answers to expect, prompts that urgency is a sign of crime, etc.

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GatesMcBalmer@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The approach we’ve taken is to talk to our aging parents and relatives to make a plan in advance.

We gave them a half page card with instructions on what to do if you get such a call. It starts with a reminder that these calls are often fake and then says to always call a trusted family member before sending anyone anything. It includes a list of trusted family members to call.

We made sure to put it on their fridges so its easy to locate when needed.

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bmpvy@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I was thinking about the same recently. how about a secret word that the other needs to know beforehand so they can identify me for real? like a password as identifyier for calls.

I was thinking one could always ask me: “But is Loki okay?” or “should I pick up Loki from Kindergarten?” or something - Loki is my belated cat and the answer would be a good indicator.

Or am I forgetting smt so this maybe wouldn’t work?

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FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
If they’re not people that you would ordinarily ask for money from, the simplest answer is to just make sure they understand that.

And that “you” asking for money out of the blue is suspicious.

For people in you immediate support system… they should know that there’s very few crisis that require immediate decisions and none of them need cash wired to foreign bank accounts or stashed on gift cards or in bitcoin.

And certainly not from an unknown number.

The focus there should be on verifying it’s you. (By hanging up and calling you direct.$

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