I finally got my family to stop clicking on weird links

Six months ago, my mom and sister would open every email attachment they got, no questions asked. I set them up with a simple rule: if you don't know the sender, just delete it. Now they actually ask me before clicking on anything. Has anyone else had success with a basic rule like this for non-tech people?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbara_moore731d ago

My grandmother fell for one of those "your package is delayed" texts last year and it was a headache getting her bank stuff sorted out. So I feel this on a personal level. Simple rules are the way to go because explaining how phishing works just makes their eyes glaze over. I added one more rule for my family: if it sounds urgent or scary, pause and ask someone first. That caught a few fake "account suspended" emails.

zarak181mo ago

Worry too much about this stuff. Most weird links just lead to spam, not actual viruses. People act like every click will destroy their computer.

lucasgarcia1mo ago

A tech podcast said simple rules work better than trying to explain all the technical details.