Lions Befrienders: Safeguarding Seniors in the Digital Space

What comes to mind when you think about technology? For most of us, we associate tech with ease and convenience. However, the same sentiment may not apply for seniors.

With rising cases of phishing scams, social media impersonation scams and investment scams, it is not surprising that seniors feel intimidated by technology. That’s why Lions Befrienders (LB) started their “Say No to Scams” programme, to provide a safe space for seniors to ask questions and pick up essential digital skills.

Empowering Seniors with “Say No to Scams”

As more of society becomes more digitalised, many seniors find it increasingly difficult to keep up.

In 2021, LB launched “Say No to Scams”, a scam awareness programme, which helped seniors pick up digital skills and knowledge on online safety. With support from the Digital for Life Fund, LB was able to expand its outreach and roll out a gamified web application that helped seniors practice discerning scams.

Using Dialect to Bridge the Communication Gap

Although anti-scam programmes were not new, most had been conducted in English. This resulted in key messages being lost by seniors who did not understand English. To bridge this gap, “Say No to Scams” was made available in the four official languages.

Some LB staff went the extra mile to use Chinese dialects to teach and converse with the seniors.

“The seniors were very thankful that we guided them in their own dialects, and made use of simple terms that made sense to them,” shared LB Senior Centre Manager Jeremy Mok.

Creating a Safe Space for Seniors to Seek Help

Besides equipping seniors with basic skills to identify scams, the programme also helped the seniors gain confidence in using digital devices through hands-on practice and one-on-one consultations.

“We often hear from seniors that they were intimidated by technology, and we wanted to change this mindset because it was a great way for them to connect with others,” shared LB Programme Lead (Specialised Programmes), Lyn Low.

Through the programme, seniors were able to get help with using their digital devices and applications at the LB centre. LB staff will also help seniors check for suspicious messages and verify if they were legitimate.

On one occasion, the staff at LB helped prevent a senior from transferring a large sum of money when he visited the centre for advice, after being prompted to share his One-Time Password over a text message.

One senior had hundreds of unread messages as she was not confident about accessing emails and messages on her device. After visits to the centre for guidance, she can now filter important notifications from spam messages.

Catering to Specific Needs with Digital for Life

While the “Say No to Scams” programme had helped seniors in the community learn to identify scams and false information online, LB recognised the necessity to expand and tailor its curriculum to support evolving needs.

“The programmes need to be a lot more diverse because we have seniors with differing levels of digital skills and the seniors’ profiles are constantly changing. So, we are challenged to constantly come up with new programmes to engage them in different ways,” shared Lyn.

These programmes helped to create a significant impact on the lives of seniors in Singapore and a ripple effect when these seniors influence their peers.