How a data-scrubber stopped my elderly relative from being scammed [Review] ★★★★☆

When fraudsters targeted an elderly relative of mine last year, they scammed her out of thousands of dollars. We tried to stop them, without much success. But then we scrubbed her personal data from the internet using a service called Incogni.

Surprisingly, using this affordable data removal service made all the difference. Here’s how I stopped my relative from getting scammed.

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Incogni review: How to scrub personal data from the web

Online scams have grown into a multi-trillion-dollar global industry, with reported losses in the United States alone exceeding $16 billion in 2024, a 370% increase since 2019.

This explosion in digital fraud is driven by the wealth of personal data on the web, the industrialization of “scam centers,” and the adoption of sophisticated, emotionally manipulative tactics targeting both older adults and younger generations.

An astonishing one in three Americans said they’d been targeted in the past year, according to a recent survey. The scams prove dangerously effective, too, with nearly 40% of those targeted saying they lost money. (For more info, see the 2025 financial scams report (.pdf) from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.)

In the case of my elderly relative, the con artists reached out to her on WhatsApp, Facebook and Apple Messages, promising love and romance in return for a steady stream of money. The problem was compounded by the fact that she had dementia. She sent them thousands of dollars in untraceable gift cards, and even handed a wad of cash to a fraudster who met her at a local ATM.

Nothing much worked to stop the scams before I tried Incogni

My relative was 81 years old at the time. Her husband had recently passed away, and she was lonely. Over the course of a year, fraudsters bilked her out of several thousand dollars.

Family members, including me, tried to intervene – with little success. Because of her dementia, she had trouble remembering she’d been ripped off. She fell for the scammers’ promises over and over again.

We tried involving the local cops and social services, but there was little they could do.

Then I had an idea. Late last year, I signed her up for Incogni, a data-scrubbing service that removes personal details from the web, and especially from people-search sites, which are major brokers of this kind of data. (Disclosure: Incogni advertises on Cult of Mac and in our newsletters.)

I found tons of her data online — and so did the scammers

When I investigated my relative’s exposure, I was pretty stunned by how much of her personal info was available online. Before I tried Incogni, when I searched the web for my relative’s name, I was shocked by the number of people-search sites she appeared on, and the crazy amount of detail they had on her.

Dozens of sites listed her phone number, email addresses, current and past home addresses, age, sex and employment history. They even included links to profiles of her late husband, her kids and more.

Scamming is not random, and that’s why it’s important to protect your online privacy

Why does having that kind of information available matter? When people get scammed like this, it often seems like it’s a random process, a matter of bad luck. But it’s anything but. Scammers glean personal details from data brokers, and the info helps them tailor their scams to make them more convincing.

The more of your personal info that’s available online, the greater the likelihood that scammers will target you. And, unfortunately, the greater the likelihood that their scams will succeed. They cleverly use your leaked personal information against you.

It’s not just scammers that use your personal data for identity theft and fraud, either. Legitimate marketers and icky spammers alike use it to inundate you with unwanted ads. Potential employers utilize it to build employment profiles. Health insurance companies examine personal data looking for a reason to hike your rates. And banks use your info to make decisions about approving or denying credit.

How Incogni works

Incogni is one of several personal data removal services (others include DeleteMe, Optery and Privacy Bee). Developed by SurfShark, Incogni stands out for its comprehensive coverage (it targets hundreds of data brokers and websites) and its ease of use. 

Incogni automates the process of removing these details from data brokers and people-search sites. It sends out hundreds of demands for removal of personal information. And then it continually follows up until the data is scrubbed for good.

Just a week after signing up my relative, Incogni had scrubbed her information from dozens of people-search sites. About two months later, her personal info had been removed from an astonishing 538 sites and data brokers.

Scams stopped after using Incogni

When I search for her name now, nothing appears on Google (at least not that I can find). Even when I add identifiable details like her city or former employer, nothing comes up.

More importantly, the scam calls and messages stopped. She is no longer being targeted by scammers.

I’m very impressed. Nothing we tried before worked, including attempting to lock down her phone, blocking unknown numbers, and removing messaging apps.

But Incogni did work, and it continues to do so. The service keeps monitoring the net for her personal data, which often pops back up when you least expect it. And when it does, Incogni takes action.

Incogni review: Final thoughts

In this day and age, it’s wise to keep as much of your personal data as private as you can. I was impressed at how effective Incogni was at removing my relative’s personal data from the internet. The service continues to monitor the internet to see if her data pops up again, and then automatically sends demands to remove it if it does.

I’m pretty confident that she will no longer be targeted by scammers, which gives me great peace of mind. 

★★★★☆

Pricing

Incogni starts at $7.99 a month for a standard plan. Family plans (covering up to five members) start at $15.99 a month.

Cult of Mac readers can use code CULTOFMAC to get 55% off.

Incogni provided Cult of Mac with an activation code for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.