9 Security Tips for Seniors

May 28, 2015 by Anas Mustafa

Home safety is a big concern of many senior citizens. From home invasions to theft to accidents around the home, many have legitimate concerns regarding being home alone.

Although the majority of crimes against seniors are non-violent, many seniors are on a fixed income making the financial blow of even smaller thefts harder to recover from. Additionally, when violence does occur, it can also have more serious repercussions on the elderly with the strong potential for more serious injuries and a longer recovery time.

The most common crimes targeted against seniors are home invasions, purse snatching, and fraud, so let’s take a closer look at each one:

Home Invasions

While home invasions are not particularly common, they have gained a large amount of media attention in more recent years due to their frightening violence. Because the risk of serious injury is high, it is important for seniors leaving alone to know how to reduce their risk.

• Don’t share personal information
  This includes things like their cell phone number, home number, home address, or location. Be sure to stress that they should not share this information through any medium: email, social networks, text message, or other mediums.
• Never meet up with strangers
  It is hard to tell who somebody really is online; encourage your tween to tell you immediately if somebody online is insisting on meeting up in person.
• Do not share photographs without parental approval
  Photographs may give away more information than they are meant to. Before allowing your tweens to post images of themselves online, be sure it does not give away too much information about their location.
• Never share your passwords
  The only person who should know the passwords to a tween’s social networks and email accounts is their parent or guardian.

Stressing these points to your tween before allowing them to use the Internet will keep them safe while surfing!