He has been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's and except for severe short term memory issues, he can mostly care for himself and is fairly independent.
Take control and install filters. My father did not have dementia and was not savvy on the internet or scams and refused to listen to me about computer and internet security. After he passed away, I found out he was paying and giving info to scammers, and my mom was continuing to do so because "your dad trusted them". I've no idea how much they paid out over the years. But I found out because eventually one of them broke into mom's checking account and was busy draining it. The bank could see the balance quickly going down once the account got flagged in the system. Mom called in a panic, and it was her suggestion that I be added to the account. Then the ID cleanup for my mom. She had almost no clue what I was doing, but she kept insisting she could do it herself, that I didn't have to.
And during the cleanup, I found what I thought was credit card fraud. They investigated and confirmed they were purchased at a local store. Months later my aunt tells me mom had been sending gift cards as "payment" to some computer guy. Aiyiyi...
And when I took the computer for clean up, the scammer was rebreaking in as they worked on it! I finally had them wipe it so that all malware was off of it. The entire situation was a nightmare.
Please be cautious and monitor your elders on the computer.
One way to help protect him is to freeze his credit. That way nobody can take out a loan or CC in his name. Then set text alerts for all his accounts and CC’s when a transaction over a certain amount that you decide is trying to post.
Then parental blocks where you can. I put one on my dad’s Xfinity account because he was just pushing buttons on the remote and ordering all kinds of channels and movies by mistake. His bill got up to $350 one month. So now he can’t order anything other than what I set up for him. When he and his girlfriend want to order a movie she calls me and I unblock it for the evening and them block it again.
So in short, block, filter, freeze, and lock out where you can.
Sounds like you need some quiet time with his computer--can you log in to his accounts when he's out of the house? Set up some security and privacy controls under the settings of the browser (google, safri, etc). I ended up filtering all my mom's emails so only emails from her contacts would come through to her in-box. You also used to be able to filter emails by key words--that might be helpful too. (Geeksquad, Microsoft, Paypal are all used as fronts for scammers so those go to the trash). I unsubscribed her from companies that sent a lot of spam. And I monitor my mom's emails by logging in to check them. I made my email address the contact address for her accounts. Similarly, you might want to make your email or cell # the 'recovery' address for when he starts forgetting passwords and getting locked out of accounts. For simplicity's sake, do this for all of your online accounts, including if you bank online. If you don't bank online, now might be the time to set that up so you can monitor the accounts easily. For the bank account: Set a daily limit on credit cards, and increase the security on card and bank accounts, including having an alert pushed to your contact email or cell # for purchases in excess of a set amount of $. If there are multiple credit cards in use, narrow that down to one. Good luck. It stinks to be sneaky, but it's better than spending days trying to get into accounts or finding your bank account missing a lot of money...
Use a parental computer blocker. This will allow him to only access approved websites or block the web completely. Also, make sure that he does not have access to his personal information, cc, ss number, etc. You can also put a note on the computer "ask before you order something because we are on a budget".
I agree that the best defense is offense, as Geaton says. The problem here is not what he will run into on the internet, because if he is on the internet AT ALL and any whatsoever he is PREY. We all are. And if we don't understand that/can no longer understand that, then we are sitting ducks.
As Geaton observes, the problem now is your finances, and who has control of them, because if hubby is failing he needs not to be in any control, needs not to have password access nor access to anything other than a small personal spending account. When my brother had probable Early Lewy's he put me in charge of EVERYTHING with only a small account being his. He had one charge card and we spoke together to the company; limits were set, and the information came to me, was on my computer and was monitored almost daily. All bills came to me and were paid by me.
So pretty much taking over the finances is what you need now to do. THAT is protection for someone who, with access to the internet, is a sitting duck. Take a look at the current AARP newpaper which is all about scams. They are more sophisticated than even I knew, and that's saying a lot because I find them a bit of a hobby.
Please do protect your hubby and protect your own money and your own information. Lock down your credit so no one can use any personal information to apply for credit and such. And good luck.
The best defense is a good offensive... this means being proactive about protecting both of your personal and financia info. Get a password app, make strong passwords and don't give him access. Put most cash into a savings and only leave a minimum in checking for bill payment. Get a fire-proof safe for inside your home big enough to stash credit cards, paperwork, licenses, passports, ss cards, etc. Make sure your bank has the PoA paperwork in place. Call your investment brokers to make sure they have the paperwork for your husband's PoA. Go through his contacts and make sure you delete any unknown people or block them. Maybe get him a special ALZ phone.
There's an inexpensive app call RoboKiller that is easily installed on phones so that it will block unknown callers or texts and remember them. For the laptop you will need to do parental controls to allow access to only certain websites that do not have a social component or commerce. You don't need to tell him you're doing this... maybe do it a little at a time. Tell him it's to protect both of you and was suggested by your bank and or/financia advisor and/or elder law attorney. Maybe this seems like a lot to do, but better this than dealing with fraud, scams and abuse. Been there, done that.
And during the cleanup, I found what I thought was credit card fraud. They investigated and confirmed they were purchased at a local store. Months later my aunt tells me mom had been sending gift cards as "payment" to some computer guy. Aiyiyi...
And when I took the computer for clean up, the scammer was rebreaking in as they worked on it! I finally had them wipe it so that all malware was off of it. The entire situation was a nightmare.
Please be cautious and monitor your elders on the computer.
Then parental blocks where you can. I put one on my dad’s Xfinity account because he was just pushing buttons on the remote and ordering all kinds of channels and movies by mistake. His bill got up to $350 one month. So now he can’t order anything other than what I set up for him. When he and his girlfriend want to order a movie she calls me and I unblock it for the evening and them block it again.
So in short, block, filter, freeze, and lock out where you can.
Set up some security and privacy controls under the settings of the browser (google, safri, etc).
I ended up filtering all my mom's emails so only emails from her contacts would come through to her in-box. You also used to be able to filter emails by key words--that might be helpful too. (Geeksquad, Microsoft, Paypal are all used as fronts for scammers so those go to the trash). I unsubscribed her from companies that sent a lot of spam. And I monitor my mom's emails by logging in to check them.
I made my email address the contact address for her accounts. Similarly, you might want to make your email or cell # the 'recovery' address for when he starts forgetting passwords and getting locked out of accounts. For simplicity's sake, do this for all of your online accounts, including if you bank online. If you don't bank online, now might be the time to set that up so you can monitor the accounts easily.
For the bank account: Set a daily limit on credit cards, and increase the security on card and bank accounts, including having an alert pushed to your contact email or cell # for purchases in excess of a set amount of $. If there are multiple credit cards in use, narrow that down to one.
Good luck. It stinks to be sneaky, but it's better than spending days trying to get into accounts or finding your bank account missing a lot of money...
The problem here is not what he will run into on the internet, because if he is on the internet AT ALL and any whatsoever he is PREY.
We all are. And if we don't understand that/can no longer understand that, then we are sitting ducks.
As Geaton observes, the problem now is your finances, and who has control of them, because if hubby is failing he needs not to be in any control, needs not to have password access nor access to anything other than a small personal spending account.
When my brother had probable Early Lewy's he put me in charge of EVERYTHING with only a small account being his. He had one charge card and we spoke together to the company; limits were set, and the information came to me, was on my computer and was monitored almost daily. All bills came to me and were paid by me.
So pretty much taking over the finances is what you need now to do. THAT is protection for someone who, with access to the internet, is a sitting duck. Take a look at the current AARP newpaper which is all about scams. They are more sophisticated than even I knew, and that's saying a lot because I find them a bit of a hobby.
Please do protect your hubby and protect your own money and your own information. Lock down your credit so no one can use any personal information to apply for credit and such. And good luck.
There's an inexpensive app call RoboKiller that is easily installed on phones so that it will block unknown callers or texts and remember them. For the laptop you will need to do parental controls to allow access to only certain websites that do not have a social component or commerce. You don't need to tell him you're doing this... maybe do it a little at a time. Tell him it's to protect both of you and was suggested by your bank and or/financia advisor and/or elder law attorney. Maybe this seems like a lot to do, but better this than dealing with fraud, scams and abuse. Been there, done that.