Don’t assume people in your life know how to recognize scams. There’s a lot of shame associated with “falling” for a scam, but this type of deceit is not the fault of the victim...
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Have ‘the talk’ with family members
Don’t assume people in your life know how to recognize scams. There’s a lot of shame associated with “falling” for a scam, but this type of deceit is not the fault of the victim.
Don’t reply. Don’t click. Don’t answer the call.
Don’t engage with possible scams. That includes not clicking links from contacts you don’t know. Got a text claiming to be from UPS about a package?
Change these setting to minimize risks
- Set your social media profiles to private.
- Limit who can see your friends list on Facebook.
- Add known contacts to your phone’s address books so you can easily ignore unknown callers.
Assume that people or companies aren’t who they say they are
It’s easy to imitate real people or organizations. Make it your first instinct to ask yourself: are they who they claim to be? If you have any doubt, go to the next step.
Know the latest scams
Being aware of what scams are trending will help you spot shady activity.
Get updates on scams at sites such as Fraud.org.
Research the sender’s phone number, email or URLs
Look for details that indicate a message is fake. This includes an email address without the right domain, a link that goes someplace it shouldn’t or a phone number you’ve never seen.
Memorize signs that something is a scam
- You didn’t initiate the conversation.
- You won something. (You didn’t, sorry.)
- Criminals want to make you think there’s an emergency.
- Fast payments are involved.
- They want your information
Have you got later-generation Apple or Beats headphones? Apple devices let you adjust sound levels using an audiogram, or hearing test. The best results will come from a test administered by an audiologist, but in a pinch, an audiogram app, such as Mimi Hearing Test, can estimate your levels of hearing loss and share the results with the Apple Health app.
Go to Settings Accessibility Audio/Visual Headphone accommodations. Turn the green slider to the “on” position, then tap “Custom Audio Setup” to tell the phone to use your unique audiogram to set the amplification, transparency, tone, ambient noise reduction and conversation boost levels on your AirPods.
Your custom AirPod settings should stay the same even if you use the ear buds with an Android device.
To tweak sound settings on an Android phone, go to Settings Sounds and vibration Advanced sound settings Sound quality and effects Adapt sound. Select your age and “preview” the sound to see if the adjustment is helpful. Go to Settings Accessibility Hearing enhancements to turn on “hearing aid support” for enhanced sound quality, adjust the balance between your left and right ears when using headphones, or switch to mono audio (one ear only).
