I want to talk to you about skepticism. A healthy dose skepticism in your life goes a long way to protecting you from believing and acting upon false information.
If you receive a suspicious email from a person or business you know and trust, call them before responding or clicking on any links. If you read or hear information from a news source or on social media, cross-check its validity with other sources before sharing or acting on this information.
If you are targeted by a con artist, share the technique they used to bait you. If
Turns out, while millennials are tech-savvy, seniors are actually more scam-savvy. In fact, 25-34-year olds are three times more likely to lose money by failing to spot a scam than seniors. Why is this?
As the millennial generation has proven, you can know your way around technology and still have it used against you.
The millennial generation is the most tech-savvy age group alive. These young adults grew up online, watched technology rapidly advance and adapt to it, embrace cyber communication and integrate tech into their everyday lives seamlessly. While the older end of this generation remembers when their family’s first dial-up modem entered their house, the younger end entered middle school, smartphone in hand. This generation grew up during the biggest, most accelerated technological revolution in human history.
Turns out, this leaves millenials even more vulnerable to falling victim to an email scam. Along with millenials, well-educated professionals are a group that are also more likely to all victim to scam than seniors. What’s going on here?
Seniors are scam-savvy because they are regarded as the population most vulnerable to scams. Therefore, they receive the most education about it. Seniors are bombarded with warnings and tips on how to spot scams, how to protect yourself from scams, and what to do in the event you fall victim to a scam. Millenials do not receive this education, AND they are online more than any other generation. That means more vectors of contact with con artists and little education about how to spot a scam.
Optimism bias is the false belief of invulnerability to con artistry. It is the notion that others are far more likely to be scammed than we are. Millennials and well-educated professionals share this bias, and it is their downfall.
The reality is that EVERYONE is at high risk of falling victim to scam. NO ONE is invulnerable to this no matter how well one knows their way around the technology used to scam targets. The likely cause of falling victim to scam has been reported to be falling for an effective sales technique, followed by believing an imposter posing as a trusted person or business. One in four households are affected by scams each year, amassing more than $40 billion in lost capital annually. Your general risk of being scammed – regardless of your age cohort – is four times more likely than your combined risk of falling victim to violent crime, burglary, auto theft, and larceny.
As we have seen amongst the senior population, education IS the answer. Education about how to spot a scam, what to do when you recognize or suspect you are being scammed, and what to do if you have been scammed works to reduce risk and help individuals, families and businesses protect themselves from con artists. Encouraging victims to report about the scams they’ve fallen for and raising awareness of the variety of scams out there, as well as spreading the word about the dangers of optimism bias are all ways we can reduce the general risk of falling victim to being scammed.
Skepticism is healthy. Check in with the person or business that allegedly contacted you before you click on any links or divulge any information. Understand how these people and entities tend to communicate and be skeptical of anything out of the ordinary when it comes to digital communication. Be skeptical about odd emails, urgent notices, and your own invulnerability.