# FamilyLine Guide

> FamilyLine Guide is an independent, plain-language site that helps parents, grandparents and their adult children deal with scam and unknown calls: setup checklists, the grandparent scam, Medicare and Social Security impostors, landline call blockers and family safe words. It includes a small area code lookup that shows the region and time zone behind a number. It does not identify who owns a number, does not rate numbers as scams, and is not affiliated with any carrier or government agency.

Editorial site about identifying unknown phone callers and understanding US/NANP area codes. It does not sell personal data and does not claim to identify the owner of a number. Written by Nora Ellison. Contact: hello@oneachieveeternal.com.

## Guides
- [Helping a parent stop scam calls: the one-page cheat sheet](https://oneachieveeternal.com/help-a-parent-stop-scam-calls): One-page cheat sheet for the adult child: phone settings by model, an hour plan, numbers to write down, and what the labels and star codes mean.
- [The grandparent scam: a checklist for before, during and after the call](https://oneachieveeternal.com/grandparent-scam-calls): A checklist for both generations: what to set up before a 'Grandma, it's me' call, what to say while it happens, and what to do straight after.
- [Fake Medicare and Social Security calls: what to say, word for word](https://oneachieveeternal.com/medicare-social-security-scam-calls): Word-for-word scripts for calls claiming to be Medicare or Social Security, plus what to say to the real agency, your bank and your family.
- [Call blockers for a landline: four conversations that explain the options](https://oneachieveeternal.com/landline-call-blockers): Four made-up conversations, with notes, that explain landline call blockers: what to ask the carrier, the seller and your parent, and how to set one up.
- [Picking a family safe word: how it plays out in one invented family](https://oneachieveeternal.com/family-safe-word): An invented family picks a safe word, uses it on a scam call, forgets it once and copes. See what worked, what nearly failed and how to copy it.
- [How to teach a teenager to handle unknown calls and texts: a decision flow](https://oneachieveeternal.com/teach-teen-unknown-calls-texts): A decision flow for parents: what a teenager should do with unknown calls, texts from new numbers and codes, and the no-punishment rule for telling you.
- [Scam calls and memory loss: eight mistakes families make, and what to do instead](https://oneachieveeternal.com/scam-calls-memory-loss): Eight common mistakes when a relative with memory loss keeps answering scam calls, each with a better move: blockers, alerts, a card by the phone.
- [Setting up call blocking on someone else's phone: a matrix by phone type](https://oneachieveeternal.com/caregiver-call-blocking-checklist): A matrix for iPhone, Android, flip phone and landline: what to switch on, where it lives, how to test it, and what to write down before you leave.
- [Arrest-threat calls: what to tell grandparents about Social Security, the IRS and the sheriff](https://oneachieveeternal.com/arrest-threat-scam-calls): A short briefing on calls that threaten arrest in the name of Social Security, the IRS or the sheriff: the shape, what to do in the moment, where to report.
- [After a family member paid a scammer: first steps and how to talk about it](https://oneachieveeternal.com/after-family-member-paid-scammer): First steps in the hour after a relative paid a scammer, what each payment type allows, and how to talk about it without shame. Questions answered.

## Tools and data
- [Check where a phone number comes from](https://oneachieveeternal.com/check-a-number): Type in a number that called and see its area code, state, cities and time zone. It cannot say who is calling or whether it is a scam.

## About
- [Scam calls are not your parents' fault. Let's make the phone safer together.](https://oneachieveeternal.com/): Plain, patient help for families: stop scam calls on a parent's phone, beat the grandparent scam, and spot fake Medicare calls.
- [About FamilyLine Guide](https://oneachieveeternal.com/about-familyline-guide): How a family phone-safety site began, how its guides grew, what the number checker does not do, and how we check facts and take corrections.
- [Nora Ellison](https://oneachieveeternal.com/nora-ellison): Meet Nora Ellison, the editor behind FamilyLine Guide: how she tests settings, checks facts and reads each guide aloud before publishing.
- [Write to us](https://oneachieveeternal.com/write-to-us): Email or use the form to send a question, a correction or a privacy request to FamilyLine Guide. A person reads every message and replies by email.
- [Privacy notice](https://oneachieveeternal.com/privacy-notice): What FamilyLine Guide collects, how long server logs and contact messages are kept, and your CCPA and CPRA rights, in plain words.
- [Terms of use](https://oneachieveeternal.com/terms-of-use): The ground rules for using FamilyLine Guide: information only, no guarantees, no using it to harass anyone, and how liability works.
- [Disclaimer](https://oneachieveeternal.com/disclaimer): We are not a carrier, a law firm or a government agency. What our information can and cannot be relied on for, plus our sale policy.