I worry about my parents being scammed by AI as I repeatedly read articles about older adults falling prey to AI-fueled deception and sophisticated frauds that rob them of savings. In 2025, adults aged 60 and over reported $7.7 billion in fraud losses to the FBI, but the real number is likely far higher, since most fraud never gets reported.

This past year I’ve noticed that both of my parents listen to AI-generated stories online as a form of entertainment. My mom enjoyed a YouTube story about a lonely billionaire who reconnected with a long-lost girlfriend and rescued her and her child from poverty. And my dad was captivated by the tale about Michael Jordan going back to his old high school and paying off the janitor’s mortgage.

“Those stories are AI-generated and aren’t real,” I told them. They shrugged off my warning. After all, why shouldn’t they enjoy an engaging story, even if it was fiction presented as fact?

So my parents and I agreed on a few rules to help them avoid AI-generated and online scams.

1. Create personal passwords. My father and I have a personal password. If he receives a phone or video call that looks or sounds like me saying I’ve had an accident or I’m in jail and he needs to send money, he knows to ask for the personal password we agreed on together. Without it, fake me can rot in that imaginary jail cell forever.

2. Don’t trust anything you see or hear online until you verify the source. My mom likes to share national “news” stories she’s heard online, and occasionally the information sounds completely fabricated. What’s the source, mom? Let’s fact-check that (she’s gotten used to verifying accuracy with Perplexity.ai now) before we share that “news” with anyone.

3. Don’t click links or answer calls from people you don’t know. This is a basic safety measure not just for AI-perpetrated fraud but all scams. My mom knows to never click links from companies. Instead she goes to the company itself or its app and uses that to call the company. My father turned on the setting that sends any number not in his contacts straight to voicemail. Most smartphones have this feature.

My father is a pretty tech-savvy guy who used to write his own code and was an early Siri adopter. But audio and video deepfakes are so good now that even the experts can’t tell what’s real. That's why these simple rules matter in my family.

This week, make that one phone call to your mom, dad or an older adult you care about.

What's the one rule you've established with your family to avoid AI scams? I’d love to hear what works for you.

P.S. Though I’ve told my mom not to pick up unrecognized callers, sometimes the prankster in her wins out. She lets the scammer give the whole spiel about being her grandchild locked up in jail. Then she scolds him: “You’re behaving badly. You should stay in jail until you change your ways.” And she hangs up.

Check out my related blog post Three AI Trends I'm Watching Closely: AI Companions, Deepfakes and Surveillance.