Dozens of people over 60 years of age from the Bronx gathered at the Gigabit Center technology center to learn how to guard against cyber fraud.
Some present have been victims of such frauds.
“I found myself defenseless because I take care of myself a lot but anyway I fell into the trap,” said Diego De La Cruz, participant in the Digital Literacy for Seniors workshop.
Months ago, De la Cruz was scammed by searching for information online from his phone.
“I lost $55.”
But it is not the only one, according to the most recent report on fraud against adults over 60 years of age from the FBI office, in 2021, 92 thousand were victims of online or telephone fraud.
Losses of almost 2 billion dollars were reported and New York is the fourth state with the most reported cases.
“We are here to provide the tools so that they can defend themselves, so that when they receive a call that they do not know, that they do not trust, they can say ‘not this’, ‘this does not sound good,'” explained María Rodríguez, organizer of the workshop. “So they can see when it is necessary to respond to an email and when not, so they understand that not all online sites are safe.”
Those present received instructions in English and Spanish.
“I learned a lot from not interacting with people I don’t know, just to have communication or have someone to talk to,” said Beatriz Blandón.
These are the recommendations to avoid cyber fraud:
Do not open unknown emails or web pages
Do not answer unknown calls or messages
Do not share personal information such as your social security or bank account
Create strong passwords and do not share them.
The digital literacy and internet access courses have been taught for a year. This in coordination with several community organizations and LINKNYC.
“We are coordinating to do it at least once a month,” Rodríguez added.
We invite you to visit us on the new NY1 Noticias channel on WhatsApp. There you will find the most relevant news about what is happening in New York, as well as other coverage about the rest of the country, Latin America and the world. click in this link to access the channel. We thank you in advance if you become one of our followers and express your reaction to what we publish with an emoji.
