Tech tasks to keep your parents safer online

All of us are vulnerable to fraud. But the ways some older people use technology can put them at higher risk.

That’s where you come in. When you’re home for the holidays, or the next time you visit your folks, offer to help with a few tasks that can keep your parents safer online.

Identity thieves glean details from social media accounts that they can use to impersonate others. Unfortunately, many people have no idea how much information they’re exposing to the world.

“If you’ve never changed your Facebook privacy settings, everything you post can be seen by everyone,” says Doug Shadel, AARP’s lead researcher on consumer fraud and author of “Outsmarting the Scam Artists.”

Your mom may love the birthday greetings on her special day, for example. But publicly posting birthdates, full names, addresses, relationship status, hometowns and other key details just makes it easier for someone else to answer security questions that give access to Mom’s accounts, Shadel says.

Facebook offers a privacy checkup link, accessible via the question mark at the top of every page, that allows people to quickly adjust some of their settings. Also show your folks how to access their privacy settings from the dropdown menu to the right of the question mark. Then, tackle any other social media sites they use. If you’re not sure where the privacy settings are or what to change, search the site’s name plus “privacy settings.”