This document provides online safety tips for seniors. It discusses common online activities seniors engage in and basic safety practices like using strong passwords and privacy settings. Common scams targeting seniors are described such as personal emergency scams and online dating scams. Tips are provided for safe online banking, shopping, social media use, and identifying fake news. The document encourages fact checking information before sharing and outlines strategies for dealing with hate speech.

1. Online Safety for Seniors
A talk by Larry Magid
CEO, ConnectSafely.org
Larry@ConnectSafely.org

2. Reasons seniors go online
● Participating in social and cultural activities
● Keeping in touch with loved ones
● Meeting new friends or romantic partners
● Online banking, shopping and investing
● Making travel arrangements
● Getting medical advice and information including doctor reports and test results
● Sharing and viewing pictures
● Exploring and sharing political views
● And much more

3. Basic safety & privacy tips
● Use strong, unique & long passwords
● Use privacy settings
● Think before your post
● Think before your click
● Report abuse

4. Common scams
● Personal emergency scam
● You owe money scam
● Online dating scam
● Infected computer scam

5. Online dating safety
● Have the first meeting in a public place
● Be suspicious if the person is a lot younger or their picture seems to good to
be true
● Be careful if they say they’re from the U.S. but traveling or living overseas
● Avoid communicating outside the dating site
● Look for abnormalities in writing, grammar and spelling
● Never send money

6. Sharing your views
● Keep it civil
● Don’t spread false information -- do a little research before sharing a link or
an unverified “fact.”
○ Use fact-checking sites like Snopes.com

7. Safe shopping & banking tips
● Beware of ‘phishing’ and don’t click on links in email unless you’re 100% sure
they’re legitimate
● Be wary of any offer that’s ‘too good to be true,’ including a very low price on
an item
● Only shop at reputable merchants (do a little research if you don’t know them)
● Look for secure websites
● Use credit cards if possible -- otherwise debit cards or reputable online
payment systems
● Read the fine print, including return policies and restocking fees
● Go online to monitor your financial accounts & credit reports

8. Health and wellness
● Be careful about Googling symptoms -- that cough could be lung cancer but
it’s probably the common cold
● Only rely on reputable health sites -- be wary of ones that you haven’t heard
of or aren’t affiliated with the government or a reputable medical facility
● Check with a doctor before following advice you get on the web

9. The IRS and Medicare
● Beware of any calls or emails from someone claiming to be with the Internal Revenue
Service
● Only use legitimate sites or software to file taxes
● Be suspicious of anyone posing as a doctor, healthcare provider, or insurance
company that asks for your Medicare number, or who claims to represent Medicare
● Don’t send personal information in response to emails from Social Security or Medicare
● The Social Security Administration will not use email to ask for personal information,
such as your Social Security number or date of birth.
○ When in doubt, call your local Social Security office or 800-772-1213
■ Medicare is 800 633-4227 (800 MEDICARE)

10. Be smartphone savvy
● Only download reputable apps
● Be careful about permissions you give to apps
● Know how to turn off location
● Despite what you might think, Google is probably not listening to your
conversations

11. Passwords & Beyond
● Make them unique, long and strong
○ Consider a phrase like I met Sally Smith at Lincoln High School in 1979”
to produce “ImSSaLHSi#69”
○ Change them around, perhaps with the initials of the service inside the
password
● Use two-factor authentication
● Consider a password manager
● Use biometrics when possible
More at ConnectSafely.org/Passwords

12. More security tips
● Secure your router
● Only buy IoT devices from reputable manufacturers
● Keep your device’s software up-to-date

13. Media Literacy & Fake News
“Real” Fake News:
Fake news is any information that is deliberately meant to be wholly or largely
false or misleading. Motivations for creating fake news include financial gain—by
getting people to click on sites so they’re exposed to advertising—or to persuade
others to take an action, purchase a product, or support or oppose a cause or
political candidate.
Fake Fake News: Lies by politicians claiming that media is lying, even if they’re
not.
More at ConnectSafely.org/FakeNews

14. Spotting & Responding to Fake News
● Consider the source and other stories coming from that source. Do they ring
true? Is the URL legitimate?
● Does the “news story” seem one-sided or biased toward a particular point of
view?
● Also, consider the article’s author. Is there evidence that it’s a real person?
Search for the source and author to see what else they’ve published and what
others are saying about them.
● While it's never OK to spread fake news, it is OK to comment on links to fake
stories with your own correction, to help set the record straight
More at ConnectSafely.org/FakeNews

15. What is Hate Speech
● Hate speech is more than just harsh words. It can be any form of expression
intended to vilify, humiliate, or incite hatred against a group or class of people.
It can occur offline or online or both.
● It can be communicated using words, symbols, images, memes, emojis, and
video.
● In general, online hate speech targets a person or group because of
characteristics tied closely to their identity, like race, color, religion, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or sexual identity.
More at ConnectSafely,org/Hatespeech

16. What to do about Hate Speech
● Upstanders can start by taking preventative action, by dealing with situations
before they reach the hate speech level. Encourage empathy in children and
remind them that, when engaging with others online, there is another person
on the other side of the screen.
● Look for terms that might creep into a child’s vocabulary. Sometimes kids
(and adults) use derogatory terms without realizing their impact.
● Don’t overreact to these situations. Lots of kids use derogatory terms without
realizing it.
More at ConnectSafely,org/Hatespeech