How to protect your elderly parent's computer from scammers, even when you live far away
Scams on a parent's PC usually start with a call or pop-up and end with remote access. What to set up, what to agree on, and how to help from far away.
Most scams on a parent's computer follow the same path. A phone call, text or pop-up creates a panic ("your PC is infected", "someone is taking money from your account"), and then the caller asks to connect to the computer to "fix" it. You can't stop every call, but you can make that last step much harder, even from another state.
How it usually happens
The FBI's IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report lists 47,794 tech-support scam complaints and $2,134,675,818 in reported losses, about $44,000 per complaint (IC3 2025 report). The usual script: a fake Microsoft warning or a fake bank fraud team, a toll-free number, and a request to install AnyDesk, TeamViewer or ScreenConnect, or to open Quick Assist. Once connected, the caller can see and do whatever your parent can.
The family rule comes first
Agree on one sentence together: "I don't do anything on my computer over the phone. I'll call you back." Then they hang up and call you, or call the bank using the number on the back of the card. Tell them a false alarm will never annoy you. A parent who worries about bothering you is more likely to keep talking to the caller.
Five settings to check on your next visit
- Updates on. Settings, then Windows Update.
- A standard account for everyday use. Keep the administrator password with you, so new programs can't be installed without it.
- Browser notifications cleaned up. In the browser's settings, remove sites they don't recognize from Notifications. Scam pop-ups often come from these.
- Unknown remote access apps removed. Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps. Remove AnyDesk, TeamViewer, ScreenConnect or similar if they don't use them, and turn off Remote Assistance (search "remote settings", untick "Allow Remote Assistance connections").
- Two-step sign-in on their email. Email is the key to resetting every other password.
Our holiday checklist has the full 20-minute version.
Don't forget the phone
Many of these scams start with a call. The big carriers offer free scam call blocking: T-Mobile Scam Shield (T-Mobile), AT&T ActiveArmor (AT&T) and Verizon Call Filter (Verizon). Check which one your parent's line has and make sure it's on.
Name a trusted contact at the bank
Some banks let your parent name a trusted contact the bank can call about suspicious activity. Bank of America offers this to consumer clients; the contact can't see balances or move money, and it's set up at a financial center (Bank of America). Ask your parent's bank if it has something similar, and help them turn on alerts for large withdrawals and new payees.
What rules can't do
Rules and settings depend on your parent remembering them in the middle of a frightening call, with someone trained to keep them on the line. Settings can be changed back by the person at the keyboard, and that's who the caller is coaching. This is where being far away hurts most: you hear about it afterwards.
Be the trusted contact for the computer
Xcelcor Guardian is a Windows 11 app that holds new connections from Quick Assist, AnyDesk, TeamViewer, ScreenConnect and other common remote access tools until you approve them, by email or on xcelcor.com, from wherever you are. Your parent only gets a Refuse button, so a caller can't talk them into approving. It doesn't cover Microsoft Teams or Zoom screen control or Windows Remote Assistance, so keep the family rule and the settings above. It doesn't see their screen, files, passwords or banking, and it works alongside antivirus. It lowers the risk; it doesn't stop every scam. Start free for 14 days on one PC, no card needed. Family covers up to five PCs for $79.99 a year.
If something already happened
Don't shame anyone. Disconnect the PC from the internet, call the bank from another phone, change the email password from another device, and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Our fake Microsoft pop-up guide walks through the first hour.
Related: more ways to protect parents from scams and how tech support scams work.
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