Guide
Tech Confident: the scam-proof guide
Your phone, your apps and your online life made safe and simple — with a four-week plan to set it all up properly.
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Phones, online banking, scams and staying in touch — without the jargon.
Scam checker. Check a text, email, website or call before you act →
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Tech confidence: the complete guide to your phone, your apps and staying safe online
A start-here guide to using your phone and the internet with confidence: the settings worth changing, passwords and two-factor authentication, how scams give themselves away, video calls, photo backup, online banking and where to find free help in the UK and US.
Read the guidePlans and workbooks for tech
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How to spot a scam text, email or call: the patterns that give them away
The recurring patterns in scam texts, emails and calls — urgency, secrecy, unexpected contact, unusual payment — with the specific costumes they wear, the hang-up-and-call-back rule, and exactly where to report them in the UK and US.
Online banking safely: how your bank contacts you, what it never asks, and what to do if you've paid a scammer
Plain guidance from the FCA, FTC, CFPB, Financial Ombudsman and Gov.uk on banking safely online: the warning signs of a scam, what a real bank never asks for, how Confirmation of Payee works in the UK, the UK reimbursement rules for bank-transfer scams, and where to report in the UK and US.
Passwords and two-factor authentication, made simple
Why reusing one password is the real risk, how to build one from three random words, why saving passwords on your own phone is fine, what two-factor authentication actually does and how to turn it on, and what to do if your details turn up in a data breach.
Making your phone easier on your eyes and ears: the settings worth ten minutes
Step-by-step, from Apple's and Google's own support pages, for making text larger, using the built-in magnifier, turning on live captions and pairing hearing aids on iPhone and Android. Includes what to search for when the menu names differ.
Video calls, shared photos and the easy ways to stay close to family
How to choose between FaceTime, WhatsApp and Zoom, why a fixed call time beats spontaneity, setting up a shared photo album the whole family can add to, digital frames, reading to grandchildren over video, and simple lighting and hearing tips that make calls feel like a visit.
Stories
Cath Bowie logs on from Aberdeen, and 24,000 people come to watch her play Fortnite
Cath Bowie, 78, from Aberdeen, began playing Fortnite after watching her teenage grandson, then started broadcasting her games live on Twitch when he told her nobody would watch. She now has more than 24,000 followers and a Guinness World Records title. Her story, what the research says about games and memory, and how to start playing or streaming safely.
Things to do
More things to do →- Learn to code and finish one small project
- Work through a free digital skills course
- Put two-step sign-in on your three most important accounts
- Get an amateur radio licence
- Build something with a Raspberry Pi
- Make your first edit to Wikipedia
- Add your street to OpenStreetMap
- Move your passwords into a password manager
- Back up your photos in two places
- Switch an account to a passkey