Scam phone calls

howdoidothis

Has anyone else’s PWD come to them with the news that someone called to tell them they won the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes?
It’s happened twice now. Sadly, the second time she didn’t remember the first time or she probably wouldn’t have chatted with the caller.
Fortunately, she still has some reasoning faculties and was skeptical and told me about it. Even after I blocked the number on her phone the guy called back three more times. I’ve been trying to get her not to answer the phone unless the caller ID is a family member or a local number that might be the doctor or dentist or someone legit.
I know there’s no way around this. I can’t take the phone.
I hate this.

Carl46

Those scum call all the time. My wife doesn't answer the phone, so it's not a problem for us.

Some people have turned off the ringer. If it's someone legit, they will leave a message.

H1235

The scams are awful! I remember someone saying they gave their lo a child friendly phone that offered more restrictions. The lo could only get calls from a few select people, all others were blocked. The problem may be introducing her to a new phone. If your lo still has access to bank accounts information and credit cards I would be very careful.

SusanB-dil

MIL no longer has any cellphone,as she couldn't use it anyway. She does have the house phone only for now, but the RINGER IS OFF!! We have had no more issues, as she was starting to speak to these people more and more. 'is this so-and-so?' Do NOT answer 'yes'! Answer with 'what do you need?' If it is the doctor's office, they will answer you, if not, they start on this scamming spiel and need to just hang up. (her doc's office has DH number on file)

My mother has the child-phone off my brother's account. Everything is blocked but for a very select few.

harshedbuzz

There's also this service-

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/

sandwichone123

If you have access to her phone you can set it so that all calls are blocked except from known numbers. You can also adjust the notification settings so she doesn't see blocked calls.

GothicGremlin

We took it in stages because if I tried to take the phone away, my sister would have had a meltdown. Sooo…

I took off all of the apps on the phone so she couldn't browse the web. She was a shopper… so I nipped that right in the bud. I got rid of all email functionality. I also put her phone on 'do not disturb' and put her close friends and family in her favorites list (this is for an iPhone). That way if the phone rang, if it was a scam call, the phone wouldn't ring, nor would the lockscreen indicate that a call had even come in. If someone in her favorites list called, they'd be put right through. We'd go through her phone periodically to delete any scam call notifications. That worked for quite awhile.

When her cognition deteriorated enough that the phone caused her endless frustration, I asked her if I could take it to the Apple store for repairs. She said yes, and then I never brought the phone back. If she asked about it, I told her it was still in repairs. She eventually forgot all about it - which I never thought possible! But, she did.

None of this was fun, and I hated doing it, but the alternatives were worse.

Bridge4

Gothic, thank you so much for continuing to share your experiences here after your sister’s passing. I have always followed your posts and learned so much from your experience in my early days here. As my DW has recently entered stage 5, her iPhone usage is a rapidly increasing cause for concern. I am dreading the day the phone needs to be removed permanently, but found your tips for gradually reducing risks without creating havoc by going cold turkey to be very helpful.