In a world where technology is evolving nearly every day there are many scams that evolve with it. Cyber security is a huge issue in our nation and it is estimated that by 2021 annual costs for cyber related fraud will increase to $6 trillion. Senior citizens and older individuals tend to be especially susceptible targets for cyber criminals due to a lack of knowledge of how newer technology works. FBI crime reports show that older adults were the largest group of individuals who lost money due to cyber fraud in 2016.

Licking River Area FCS agents set out to teach a homemakers lesson on using and operating Pinterest on April 12, 2018. While this lesson was aimed to be fun for all in attendance, there was also a hidden key component to the presentation that covered internet safety. Using information from a department of homeland security handout, 13 older adults learned important topics such as never using credit cards on odd websites, to check the reputation of websites before ordering, to be wary of free giveaways, and how it was important to never give out private information such as bank accounts or social security numbers online.

End of program evaluations showed great success. Participants were asked to rank their knowledge (1 being the least and 5 being the most) on 5 different topics before and after the lesson. After analyzing the results it was found that the average answer for “knowledge of safety precautions to follow while using the internet” increased dramatically from 1.769 before the class to 3.417 after the class. This indicates that all individuals in attendance left with a better understanding of how to protect themselves online.