Protecting the ones you love

Protection without taking the phone away.

For a parent with memory loss who can't hang up on a convincing voice.

No stranger reaches her unless your family said yes. She keeps her number, her iPhone, and her independence. No new device, and you can undo it in thirty seconds.

Start free for 30 days

Questions first? Call or text Tom at (224) 325-5865.

Why we built this

A scammer reached a senior member of our family in May 2025. Over several calls he walked her through withdrawing $17,000 in cash, including what to tell the bank when they asked about a withdrawal that size, and then how to feed it into a bitcoin ATM. None of it came back. We still don't know whether it started with a text or a phone call. She has memory loss. For the next year we kept her safe with Apple's Assistive Access, which worked, but it replaced her phone with a stripped-down screen she didn't recognize. I built Caring Owls so she could have her normal iPhone back and our family decides who reaches her, from our own phones. It has protected her since July 2026.

— Tom Vivaldelli, founder, Caring Owls

The problem is real

Millions of seniors are targeted by phone and text scams every year. Existing solutions force painful tradeoffs between protection and independence.

$7.7B
Lost by Americans 60+ to scams in 2025 (FBI)
7M+
Americans 65+ living with Alzheimer's
13M
Unpaid dementia caregivers in the US

How it works

Three simple steps to protect your loved one with as little disruption to their routine as possible.

1

Keep their number

We give your family a private Caring Owls line. One dial code forwards your loved one's calls to it. Their number doesn't change, nobody has to be told anything, and turning it off is one more dial code. Want text protection too? Full Protection moves their number to us permanently.

2

Set up approved contacts

Family members add trusted contacts through a simple web dashboard. Only approved people can call your loved one. On Full Protection, texts are filtered the same way.

3

Unknown callers go to you, not them

Anyone not on the approved list reaches a voicemail your family reviews from the dashboard. Approve a caller once and they ring through from then on. Your loved one never hears the scam call.

Start with Quick Start

Includes the app, the family dashboard, and real people helping you set it up. Built so they keep a sense of normalcy and independence.

Quick Start

$49 / month
Cancel anytime. No setup fee.
  • Keep their phone number
  • Calls from unknown numbers go to a voicemail you review
  • Her regular Phone app still works. If she returns calls to strangers, we set up Apple's Screen Time limits with you during setup (how that works)
  • Keep iMessage, FaceTime, and their existing carrier
  • About 30 minutes to set up, done together on a visit or video call

Texts are handled by your iPhone's built-in Filter Unknown Senders. Family review of texts requires Full Protection.

Card on file, first 30 days free, then $49/month. Cancel anytime. We'll call within one business day to schedule setup.

Start Quick Start

Scam texts too?

Full Protection adds text filtering. $59/month plus a one-time $249 setup.

  • Everything in Quick Start
  • Scam texts filtered, family reviews unknown senders
  • Caring Owls becomes their phone and messaging app
  • We handle the number transfer with you (takes 1–2 weeks)

Moving a number to Caring Owls means iMessage no longer works on that number — texts arrive in the Caring Owls app instead. FaceTime keeps working. A second line handles data and 911.

Ask about text protection

Not sure it fits? Call or text Tom at (224) 325-5865, or request a call and tell us about your situation.

Built for safety and simplicity

Protection that works in the background so your loved one doesn't have to think about it.

📞

Call Filtering

Only approved contacts ring through. Unknown callers are sent to voicemail, which family can review and approve. Calls placed from the Caring Owls app go only to approved contacts, or are logged for your review. You pick which in the dashboard.

💬

Text Filtering Full Protection plan

Scam texts don't reach your loved one's phone. Approved contacts can message normally. Unknown texts are held for family review.

🦉

Family Dashboard

Manage approved contacts, review blocked attempts, and monitor activity from any browser. Multiple family members can share access.

📱

Still a real iPhone

Calling and texting work the way they always have. No locked-down senior phone, no new interface to learn. The built-in Phone app can't be removed from an iPhone, so on Full Protection we move it out of the way and make Caring Owls the app they reach for.

🔔

Real-Time Alerts

Get notified when unknown numbers attempt contact, when they call an unknown number from the Caring Owls app, or when voicemails need review.

🆘

911 Emergency Access

Emergency calling always works. A dedicated 911 button connects directly through the native cellular network for maximum reliability.

Designed for caregivers

You're already doing so much. Caring Owls gives you one less thing to worry about.

Manage contacts remotely

Add or remove approved contacts from anywhere. No need to physically handle your loved one's phone.

Review and approve

A bank or doctor's office calls from a number you haven't approved? It goes to voicemail. You listen, approve them once, and they ring through next time. You can also hear voicemails from approved callers, so nothing important slips by.

Share with family

Invite siblings, spouses, or other caregivers to the dashboard. Everyone stays informed, everyone can help manage.

Questions families ask

Should I take away her phone?

Most families who've been through this say no — it's her last link to the outside world. The answer is usually to limit who can reach her and who she can reach, without taking the phone. That's what Caring Owls does, and you manage it from your own phone.

Can't I just set up her iPhone to only allow contacts?

You can, and for some families that's enough. What you can't do from her Settings is see who tried to call, approve a new caller from your own phone, or review a voicemail before deciding. Caring Owls is that layer. We wrote a free guide on setting this up and what it misses: read the guide.

How is this different from AI call-screening apps?

An AI screener has to decide in a few seconds whether a stranger sounds legitimate, and 'I'm calling from her doctor's office' sounds legitimate. Caring Owls doesn't guess. A caller your family hasn't approved goes to voicemail, someone in the family decides, and nobody becomes trusted because of what they said on the phone.

Does it work on Android?

Not yet. Caring Owls runs on iPhone. The caregiver dashboard works in any browser.

Will my mom notice anything changed?

On Quick Start, she keeps her number and her phone. Calls from people you've approved arrive like any normal call, with their name on screen. She'll have a new app on her phone that she rarely needs to open.

Won't I drown in voicemails?

One family using Caring Owls today reviews six to eight voicemails a week, plus about ten calls that rang and hung up without leaving one. That's a couple of minutes a day from the dashboard on your phone, and most of it is dismissing a pharmacy robocall or a number that calls daily and never speaks. The real ones, like a doctor's office calling from a new line, you approve once and they ring through from then on. Ten strangers a week reached that phone with nothing to say. She never heard one of them.

Does her phone need my login?

No. Her phone pairs with a one-time code from your dashboard. Your email and password never go on her device, and we can revoke the pairing for you if the phone is lost.

Can we undo it?

Quick Start turns off with one dial code, and she's back to exactly how things were. Full Protection involves moving her number, which is reversible but takes time.

What about scam texts?

Full Protection filters texts and lets your family review unknown senders. Quick Start relies on the iPhone's built-in Filter Unknown Senders, which hides stranger texts but doesn't show them to you.

What if she finds the regular Phone app?

It's still on the phone, moved out of sight. A determined person can find it. Caring Owls makes the protected path the easy one; it doesn't lock the phone down. If you need a fully locked-down phone, we'll tell you honestly that we're not the right fit.

For care managers and senior living

If you work with families whose parent is getting scam calls on an iPhone, we'll set up one client with you, on a visit or a video call, and give you our family guide as a handout. The first 60 days are free with a card on file, then $49/month, cancel anytime. Call or text Tom at (224) 325-5865, or email [email protected] with "pilot" in the subject line.

Protect someone you love

Start with Quick Start: first 30 days free, cancel anytime. We call within one business day to schedule setup. Not sure it fits? Call or text Tom at (224) 325-5865, or request a call.

Start Quick Start Request a call