Two in three Americans over 50 say technology enriches their lives, and in the United Kingdom most people over 75 say being online is worth more than it risks. Safe & Savvy After 60 is a free video course from UtilForge.org that starts from that confidence and adds the habits that protect it, one invention at a time, so the family video calls, the shows, the books, the trips and the matches keep their place in daily life without a stranger getting a share of it. The lessons are made for people aged 60 and over, and they are useful at any age.
Facts checked on 24 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end, with dates.
The lessons so far
Lesson 1: What is AI? You already understand it. Eighty years of inventions, from a room-sized computer in 1946 to the phone in your hand, and the safe habit that came with each one. Watch Lesson 1 on YouTube.
Lesson 2: Is that really your family on the phone? How a computer can copy a voice, the four parts of a copied-voice call, and the family safe word the Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends. Make yours with the free Family Safe Word page.
Lesson 3, coming next: photos and videos made by AI, and the questions that help you spot them.
To hear when a new lesson is added, use the sign-up on the What’s new page.
Who is online after 60?
The picture is of people who already live a good part of their lives online. In a Pew Research Center survey carried out between February and June 2025, 78 per cent of Americans aged 65 and over owned a smartphone. AARP, the American organisation for people over 50, found in autumn 2025 that nine in ten people over 50 use social media, eight in ten stream video every week and 66 per cent agree that technology enriches life. In March 2026 it reported that 64 per cent expect to travel this year, and that the share using AI tools to find travel deals had doubled in a year, from 8 to 16 per cent.
In the United Kingdom, Ofcom, the communications regulator, found in its April 2026 report that 68 per cent of people aged 75 and over use social media, mostly Facebook and WhatsApp, that 47 per cent do something for their health and wellbeing online, and that 63 per cent say the benefits of being online outweigh the risks.
Those numbers describe chess games with a friend in another country, a documentary chosen for the evening, a fishing trip planned around the weather, tickets for a concert or a match, a library book on a tablet and a family group chat that never goes quiet. Safe & Savvy After 60 exists to keep all of that.
Why a course, and why now?
The tools changed faster than the habits that used to protect people. Lesson 2 begins in 1876, with the first telephone call, because for 150 years a familiar voice on the line was proof of who was calling, and AI can now copy a voice from a short recording. Pictures and video are going the same way: in July 2026 Switzerland’s National Cyber Security Centre warned that the classic warning signs of a made-up image are becoming harder to detect, or disappearing altogether.
Criminals have noticed where older adults spend their time and their savings. People aged 60 and over reported losing US$7.7 billion to online crime in 2025, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more than any other age group. The habit that stops most of it is a check, and Ofcom found that only 8 per cent of people aged 75 and over would look at the sender’s address on a suspicious email.
A check is learnt like any other habit, by practising it on something familiar. Every lesson in the course works that way: a story from an invention people already know, one sentence that explains the new technology, one habit, a practice run and a free tool that runs on your own phone or computer.
Is this about age?
Age is a number, and many people over 60 are the most curious learners in the family. The course is named for the audience that criminals target most, and the habits suit anyone: a student checking a job offer, a parent agreeing a safe word with a partner, a grandparent setting up a new phone. When a whole family shares the same words and the same checks, each person protects the others.
The responsibility is shared, too. After its National Day of Action in September 2026, the National Council on Aging in the United States wrote that individuals cannot carry the responsibility for preventing online scams alone. Platforms, banks and governments carry their part, and a household that knows the checks carries its own part with confidence rather than worry.
What each lesson gives you
- A short film, about six minutes, with captions, a clear voice and film clips that are labelled when they are AI-generated recreations.
- One habit you can use the same day, such as the family safe word in Lesson 2.
- A free tool or printable page from UtilForge.org that runs on your own phone or computer.
- Links to the official advice behind it, from bodies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Cybersecurity Alliance.
For libraries, care homes and community groups
The films and tools are free to show in a class, a library session, a care home lounge or a community centre. The free large-print book, How to Become Safer Online, goes with them, and the Official help page lists where to report fraud in 33 countries and territories. Organisations that would like to work with UtilForge on a session can write to support@utilforge.org.
Questions people ask
What is Safe & Savvy After 60?
A free video course from UtilForge.org. Each lesson takes one technology people already use, explains the new part in one sentence, and gives one habit and one free tool that runs on your own phone or computer.
Who is it for?
It is made for people aged 60 and over, the age group criminals target most, and the habits suit anyone in the family.
What does it cost?
The lessons, the tools used in them and the large-print book How to Become Safer Online are free to use.
Can a library or care home show the lessons?
Yes. The films are free to show in classes, library sessions, care homes and community centres. Organisations can write to support@utilforge.org.
What is the next lesson?
Lesson 3 covers photos and videos made by AI, and the questions that help you spot them.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, internet use and smartphone ownership in the United States, survey 5 February to 18 June 2025, published 8 January 2026
- AARP Research, 2026 Technology Trends among Adults 50 and Older, fieldwork September to October 2025
- AARP, travel trends 2026 press release, 10 March 2026
- Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026, published 2 April 2026 (fieldwork September to November 2025)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Scammers Target Older Adult Victims”, 15 May 2026
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center, public service announcement on generative AI and fraud, 3 December 2024
- National Council on Aging, National Day of Action report, 7 October 2026
This page is general information, not professional security advice.
Every invention in Lesson 1 felt strange at first and became part of ordinary life once people had a habit to go with it, and the same is true of AI: one habit at a time, the online world stays a place for the people and the things that matter most to each of us.
Related guides
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If you doubt it,
UtilForge it.
Start with the habit from Lesson 2: agree a family safe word, made on your own phone or computer.
For the household, the Family Safety Tools pack gathers fifteen checks into files you keep. You pay what you want, including nothing.