The mobile and desktop electrum wallets are actually good. But there was a time someone on this forum complained of losing funds on an electrum wallet because of not updating to the latest firmware. I don't know if this has been really proven to be true. I have tried looking up google for help but I have not really gotten anything concrete and I would appreciate if someone can help me out.
It is good to update your electrum software if there is a new update, but using older versions are very safe, surely with newer versions you enjoy new additions and little bugs are fixed, but it does not mean your funds would be lost if you use older versions.
The person probably lost their Bitcoins because their wallet seed phrase or keys was compromised or because they downloaded a fake electrum software and not because they were using an older version of electrum.