For parents, grandparents and the grown children who worry

Scam calls are not your parents' fault. Let's make the phone safer together.

Most scam calls work because they rush a kind person. These guides slow things down. Short sentences, real menu names, and steps you can finish at the kitchen table.

Start with the checklist Check a number

Who this is for

Maybe your mother picked up three calls this week from numbers she did not know, and one of them left her shaky. Maybe you are the one who got the call and you are not sure what to do next. Either way, you are in the right place, and nobody here will make you feel silly for asking.

We write for two readers at once. If you are the adult child, you get a plan you can finish in an afternoon. If you are the parent or grandparent, you get plain words and no jargon, and a text-size button at the top of every page in case the print is small.

What we will and will not do

We explain how the common scams work: the grandchild in trouble, the caller from Medicare, the bank that has frozen your account. We show you the exact phone settings that send strangers to voicemail. We suggest simple family rules, such as a safe word, that people really keep using.

We will not sell you a "free" number lookup that turns out to cost money, and we will not claim to know who is calling. Nobody can tell you that reliably from a number alone. Our little lookup tool shows the area code, state and time zone, and says so plainly when it does not know something. You can read more about who we are on the about page, or meet Nora, our editor.

If the call that worried you came from an unfamiliar code, our area code directory is a quick place to see where it belongs. A call from 876 or 809, for instance, looks like a US number but is not, which is worth knowing before anyone rings back.

Find your situation

How to help a parent stop scam calls: a sit-down checklist A sit-down checklist for the adult child: phone settings, registry sign-up, a call rule and a paper list, done in about an hour. Read this guide The grandparent scam: 'Grandma, it's me' and how a family beats it How the 'Grandma, it's me' scam works, what to say on the call, and how a family can beat it before the phone ever rings. Read this guide Calls claiming to be Medicare or Social Security: what they will never do Calls claiming to be Medicare or Social Security: the red flags, what the real agencies will not ask, and how to check safely. Read this guide Call blockers and simple phones: protecting a landline What call blockers for a home landline actually do, the types you can buy, what to ask your carrier, and who each option suits. Read this guide Picking a family safe word, and other phone rules that actually get used How to pick a family safe word, when to use it, and a short list of phone rules your relatives will keep following. Read this guide

A number just called and you want to know where from?

Type it in. We show the area code, state and time zone. We cannot say who owns it.