TechNow SAI Answers · Scam safety
Short answer: Pick one word or short phrase that only your family knows. Teach everyone the rule: if a caller claims to be a grandchild, a child, or anyone asking for money in an emergency, they must say the safe word. No safe word = hang up, and call that person’s real number yourself. That is it — and it works even when the voice on the phone sounds exactly like your grandchild, because scammers can now copy a voice from a few seconds of video, but they cannot know your word.
This is not our idea — it is the FBI’s. In December 2024 the FBI publicly recommended that families create a secret word or phrase to verify a caller’s identity, specifically because AI voice cloning has made “but it sounded just like him” meaningless. The stakes are real: adults 60 and over reported $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Center in 2025 alone. Five minutes tonight closes the easiest door the scammers use.
1. Pick a word nobody could guess — not a pet’s name, not a street you lived on, nothing posted anywhere online. Silly is good: it is easier to remember under stress. (“Pineapple tractor” beats a birthday every time.)
2. Share it in person or on a call you started — with your children, grandchildren, and anyone who might ever call you for help. Never text it to a number that asked you for it, and never post it anywhere.
3. Practice the hang-up. The scam only works if you stay on the line while you are scared. The family rule is: no word, no talk, no exceptions — hang up and dial the real number from your own phone book. A real grandchild in real trouble will be glad you checked.
4. Put the card where the phone is. Write the word on a card by the phone or on the fridge — the moment you need it is the moment memory goes blank.
Text SAFEWORD to (530) 487-0107 and we will send you our free Family Safe Word card — the word, the rule, and the hang-up steps, in big print for the fridge. No charge, no catch.
The safe word is one page of a bigger job: making the phone feel safe and simple again. Our guide Your Phone, Made Simple covers iPhone and Android in one big-print book — bigger text, calls and video calls with the grandkids, photos, Emergency SOS, and a full scam-safety chapter. Essential $12.99; Complete $24.99 adds printable fridge cheat sheets and a done-with-you setup check by text.
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One text gets you the free Family Safe Word card: the word, the rule, and the hang-up steps in big print. Text SAFEWORD to (530) 487-0107.