Silver Surfers — Staying Safe Online

A friendly guide for older adults who want to use the internet with confidence. No jargon. No panic. Just clear, practical advice.

🥇 The Golden Rules

📞 Phone Scams — What to Do

Phone scams are the most common way criminals target older people. Someone calls claiming to be from your bank, the police, or the tax office. They say there is a problem with your account and they need to “keep your money safe”.

• 1. If someone calls claiming to be your bank, the tax office, or the police — hang up.
• 2. Do not press any numbers. Some scams ask you to press 1 to speak to an advisor. Just hang up.
• 3. Wait five minutes, then call your bank on the number printed on the back of your card. Scammers can keep your line open, which is why you wait.
• 4. Register with the Telephone Preference Service at tpsonline.org.uk. It is free and it cuts most sales calls.
• 5. If you are worried, tell someone. A family member, or call Age UK for advice on 0800 678 1174.

🚪 Doorstep Scams & Rogue Traders

Someone knocks on your door offering to fix your drive, clean your gutters, or resurface your roof. They want cash upfront. The work is never finished, or done badly. This is a rogue trader scam.

• ❌ Say no firmly. You do not need to be polite to someone pressuring you at your door.
• ❌ Never pay upfront or sign anything at the door. Real traders provide written quotes.
• ✅ Check traders through TrustMark or Which? Trusted Traders before hiring.
• ✅ Report rogue traders to Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133.

📮 Postal & Lottery Scams

Scammers send letters that look official, telling you that you have won a lottery, a prize draw or a sweepstake. To claim your winnings you must pay a fee or a tax first. The winnings never arrive.

• ❌ No real prize draw asks for money upfront. If you have to pay to claim, it is a scam.
• ✅ Show the letter to a family member or neighbour before responding to anything.
• ✅ Most lottery scam letters come from overseas. No UK prize draw works this way.

👴 The Grandparent Scam

Someone calls pretending to be your grandchild. They sound upset. They say they are in trouble and need money urgently for bail, a car repair, or a hospital bill. They beg you not to tell anyone.

Some scammers now use artificial intelligence to copy a real voice. Do not trust a voice alone.

• ✅ Stop. Ask a question only your real grandchild would know. Scammers cannot answer.
• ✅ Call your grandchild on their real number to check. Hang up on the scammer first.
• ✅ Agree a family password with grandchildren in advance. Ask for the password if they call.

🏦 Couriers & Bank Card Scams

Someone calls pretending to be from your bank or the police. They say your card has been compromised and they are sending a courier to collect it. The courier arrives within the hour. Your card and PIN are gone.

• ❌ No bank, police force or official body will ever send a courier to collect your card. This is always a scam.
• ✅ Hang up. Wait 5 minutes and call your bank using the number on the back of your card.
• ✅ If a courier arrives, do not open the door. Call 999.

💻 If Something Goes Wrong Online

You clicked a link you should not have, or gave your details to someone you now think was a criminal. This happens to careful people every day. What matters is what you do next.

• 1. Do not feel foolish, and do not hide it. Delay is what costs money. Tell someone straight away.
• 2. Call your bank on the number on the back of your card. Ask them to freeze the account if money has gone.
• 3. Change your password on any account you gave details for. Use a different password from the one you use elsewhere.
• 4. Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or online at actionfraud.police.uk. You will get a crime reference number.
• 5. Under the reimbursement rules in force since October 2024, most people who are tricked into transferring money to a scammer are entitled to be paid back by their bank. Ask them about it directly.

🧓 For Families & Carers

If you are reading this because you are worried about a parent or neighbour, these are the things that actually help.

• ✅ Agree a family password before anyone needs it. It is the single most effective defence against a copied voice.
• ✅ Put the bank’s real number on the fridge, and on a card by the phone. The person who is panicking will not think to look it up.
• ✅ Never take over. Being told what to do feels like losing control. Explain the scam and let them make the call.
• ✅ Report it even if no money was lost. Reports are what get these numbers shut down for everybody else.

🛡️ Worried About a Parent, Neighbour or Friend?

This page is written for the person who might be targeted. If you are the one doing the worrying — the son or daughter who gets the phone call afterwards — there is a separate guide written for you.

It covers the seven protections that actually work: a call blocker, answerphone screening, a family safe phrase, stopping calls at source, the numbers to keep by the phone, the follow-up scam that comes after money has gone, and exactly what to do in the first hour.

• ✅ Protect an Older Parent — the seven steps →