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Phishing email slipped past spam and my aunt clicked, so I locked down her phone in 20 minutes
My aunt Rosa called me Tuesday night from Fresno in a total panic. She got an email that looked just like her bank, saying her account was frozen, and she clicked the link before thinking. I drove over, and within 20 minutes I checked her phone, saw she had no two-factor turned on, and helped her turn it on for her email and bank app. She had 3 different passwords saved in her notes app that were all basically the same word with different numbers. We changed all of them and I set up a password manager on her phone so she doesn't have to remember any of them. Then I turned on login alerts so she gets a text anytime someone new signs in. It was a rough night for her but honestly a good reminder for me too. Has anyone else had to walk a family member through this after a close call, and what was the one setting that helped the most?
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cole_hall10d ago
The one setting that matters most is the login alerts you set up, but not for the reason you might expect. Two-factor stops the attacker, while alerts are what actually get your aunt to call you the next time instead of clicking first and worrying later. My mom now forwards me every weird email before she touches anything, and that habit has saved us twice.
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