Serious question: how do you train elderly parents to recognize scams?

I’m sure this is not news to anyone. But I was surprised how scams are affecting everyone.

Recently I tried calling my mom while my dad was traveling. She lives alone, so I wanted to check in. She didn’t pick up.

I got a bit worried and contacted a relative who lives nearby. They told me my mom has basically stopped answering any international calls because she’s afraid they might be scams.

On one hand that’s good because she’s being cautious.

But on the other hand it also feels like scammers are starting to affect normal life. People are getting so cautious they’re avoiding legitimate calls too.

Which made me wonder about something.

Most advice about scams is just “be careful” or “don’t trust strangers.” But scammers create urgency and panic, and by the time someone realizes it’s a scam it’s often too late.

Is there any tool or service that actually trains family members to recognize scam patterns before they encounter them in real life?

Something like learning how to spot:

* impersonation messages

* fake bank alerts

* urgent payment requests

Curious if anything like this exists, or if families mostly deal with this case by case?