In this program, William Guthier IV of Guthier Cyber Safety LLC. will focus on digital scams and how you can be proactive against voice cloning, phishing texts and email, tech support pop-ups, and the phone and account settings patrons can change the same afternoon. He will focus on the following:

1) The scale of the problem. Current figures from the FBI on what older adults are losing, and the point that matters most: these scams are built by professionals, deliberately engineered to defeat people who are careful, capable, and intelligent. Being fooled by a well-built scam is not a failure of judgment.
2) Why these scams work. The levers every scam pulls — urgency, authority, fear, and isolation from the people who would say wait a minute. Once patrons can name the pattern, the individual scams become far easier to recognize.
3) Artificial intelligence voice cloning. The scam most people have not yet heard of. A few seconds of audio is now enough to make a phone call sound exactly like a grandchild.
4) Phishing and phone scams. Fraudulent emails, text messages, and calls impersonating Medicare, Social Security, banks, and package delivery services — the highest volume scams currently in circulation.
5) Pop-up and tech support fraud. The alarming warning that appears on a screen, why it is always fake, and what to do instead of calling the number it displays.
6) Romance and relationship scams. Less common than the others but still widespread, and among the most financially and emotionally damaging when they happen.
7) Everyday habits that make you harder to reach. Practical steps that apply across all of the above — two-factor authentication, strong passwords, call screening, and reviewing what personal information is publicly visible.
8) If it happens to you. General guidance on acting quickly, who to notify, and where to report. Above all, why embarrassment is the thing that turns a small loss into a large one, and why speaking up early matters more than anything else.

The presentation will be an hour with additional time for questions.

There will be no salespeople present, no forms to complete, and the presenter will not receive a list of program attendees.

This program fulfills the Information Literacy for PaLA's PA Forward Gold Star program.