Increasing online safety through community education

Since our Cyber Security for Seniors program launched at Amici House in March 2025, Co.As.It. has proudly staked a claim to helping older people to stay safe online.

We’ve made it our priority to roll-out more Cyber Crime Awareness sessions, packed with online safety tips.

Our top tip is: Stop, Check and Protect, when something doesn’t seem right.

Staying safe online may sound this simple but with clever new scams starting every day, we’re keen to get everyone on board in fighting cyber-crime.

We aim to educate everyone about the small changes we can all make to be much safer online.

Red flags

In hindsight, it’s easy for most people to see the red flags. The offers were too good to pass up, the large discounts and the apparent legitimacy of the websites.

When prompted to pay online or provide personal details, the phishing scam begins in earnest.

Three weeks later and there’s still no delivery. When you call to follow up, no one answers and the website is `down for maintenance’.

The message is clear – phishing scams are successful because the people who run them know just which tricks to use to build trust that will lead their victims to share personal information.

Participants in our Cyber Crime Awareness sessions have learned how to recognise the common warning signs: urgent messages, spelling or grammar mistakes in emails, suspicious links, unexpected attachments and requests for passwords, credit card or social security details.

Security alerts are also among the most convincing email scams. They rely on the fear factor that someone has accessed your account and usually evoke an immediate response.

Creating passwords

During our cybersecurity sessions, everyone is reminded that online safety begins with a strong password, for example, Sunshine$2024Garden!

This password is strong because it has at least 12 characters and a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.

By contrast, weak passwords are like leaving your front door unlocked. They make it easy for scammers to guess, such as, password123’ or suzy1956’.

Stop. Check. Protect.

“Urgent!” “Act now!” “Buy now!” – these ‘unmissable offers’ could all be scams. So our Cybersecurity for Seniors program focusses on 3 top tips.

• Stop: Do not give money or personal information to anyone if unsure.
• Check: Who are you dealing with? If you are unsure, never click a link in a message, delete or end the phone call.
• Protect: Act quickly, if something feels wrong. Contact your bank if necessary and report to ScamWatch to warn others.

Our Cybersecurity for Seniors program is vital in an era when it’s easier to log on to buy goods and services than it is to face the shops, the carparks and the temptations that can ruin any budget.

It’s also is a reminder that even the most tech-savvy, sharp witted among us can be duped with cyber-criminals becoming more sophisticated and starting new scams every day.