I need a Phone for Mom

[Joeiconic]

My mom is 85 and is still sharp, but she is very trusting and has proven susceptible to fraudsters and she gets a ton of spam calls and texts. I’m looking for a phone that will allow me to block calls and texts from callers that are not in her contact list, and that is reasonably simple to use. She currently has a Lively phone that is geared toward seniors, but inexplicably has no real security features. I’ve just started searching, so I thought I would ask the brain trust here before I get too deep. Any ideas?

Sponsored

 

[Chris M]

Im with Consumer Cellular and have a Samsung phone. My phone tells me when calls come in that are "suspected spam". And I rarely answer any other calls from people/entities that aren't in my contact list that get by the spam filter. They can leave a message for me, and I add to contacts or block the number as necessary. I bet your mom could handle that if a Neanderthal like me can.

 

[Joeiconic]

yes, blocking 1-2 spam callers a week is not a big deal. Blocking 10+ a day is a PITA.

 

[LaBalbe]

yes, blocking 1-2 spam callers a week is not a big deal. Blocking 10+ a day is a PITA.

While I agree that spam calls are a PITA, I'm not sure that blocking them is doing anything, because they're not exactly using the same numbers twice in a row. They use computer-generated spoof numbers. I used to block them as well and haven't noticed much of a difference in the number of spam calls that I receive since I stopped blocking them.

Not your question, I know, but I can't offer much feedback there since I'm not US-based. Beyond that, I can only echo what @Chris M said. It's the advice we've given my mom, and she's not that much younger than yours.

 

[Superspirit]

Any smartphone will do the trick. Go into do not disturb. And Set it for calls from contacts only. It works great. Had to do that with my father in law for the same reason. Once they get a person they think they can scam. They put the phone number on a list on the dark web and it only gets worse. So your best bet is a new phone number and a smart phone set to contacts only.
Speaking from experience with identity theft.

 

[ScarzRanger21(2.0)]

My mom is 85 and is still sharp, but she is very trusting and has proven susceptible to fraudsters and she gets a ton of spam calls and texts. I’m looking for a phone that will allow me to block calls and texts from callers that are not in her contact list, and that is reasonably simple to use. She currently has a Lively phone that is geared toward seniors, but inexplicably has no real security features. I’ve just started searching, so I thought I would ask the brain trust here before I get too deep. Any ideas?

My grandpa is 97 and we got him an iPhone. My parents have it locked down so he doesn’t get calls from unknown numbers. If you want a phone that has all the security features you’re looking for, it’ll have to be a smartphone. It’ll take some effort on your part but once you get it set up for her, all she needs to know how to do is make calls and check voicemail.

Sponsored