Elderly person defrauded of 950,000 yuan
Scammers' tactics are straightforward. First, they need to be able to reach you. They can learn about your savings, age, and car (there are insiders leaking information, and on the open web, many doxxing systems cooperate to buy and sell personal data). Then, no matter how many barriers you set, they'll find a way to contact you. They then create fear—once you're afraid, you lose the ability to think clearly and become easy to manipulate. Many international students have been scammed into situations like the "naked loan"套路, which follows a similar pattern.
The best approach is to refuse calls from unknown numbers and decline friend requests from strangers, cutting off all contact with people you don't know (all mobile carriers offer free blacklist and anti-harassment features; just contact customer service to activate them). Additionally, for elderly family members, install anti-fraud apps—preferably in a hidden, undeletable mode—and protect sensitive settings with passwords. On iPhones, most app operations require a password by default. You can enable a minor/child mode for all apps—for example, WeChat can be set to restrict daily transaction amounts. For bank cards, proactively contact your bank's customer service to lower transaction limits, and handle necessary large transfers at a branch counter. Bank staff will also initiate risk controls for large transactions, asking about the purpose of transfers and, if something seems suspicious, typically blocking the transfer and reporting to the police to prevent fraud.
In short, everyone should stay vigilant. Money always flows out of the hands of those who aren't qualified to manage it—that's beyond dispute. It's best to keep your money in the hands of someone who knows how to manage it.