Why Millennials are Susceptible to Cyber Scams

Millennials are often considered internet-literate and tech-savvy. Most assume that millennials are familiar with the ins and outs of the digital world. Therefore, it is believed that they would be the last ones to fall for cyber scams. Yet, studies show that the savvy and the young are actually more susceptible to these cyber scams as compared to the older generation. More than 15 percent millennials between the age of 18 and 24 have been victims of cyber scams and 30 percent between the ages of 25 to 34. In contrast, only 5 percent of scam victims are 75 and higher. So, why are millennials being scammed in such high numbers even though they have more technical know-how? Some of the notable reasons are:

Millennials believe they are invincible

It might not be conscious and they may not know they believe so, but millennials often consider themselves invincible. They believe they can never be victims of a cyber scam. It is often assumed that scam victims are less educated, elderly, low income earners, less financially secure and less intelligent. This makes millennials think that they are safe and so they take more risks and make bad decisions, which makes them a target.

Millennials indulge more in online shopping

At some point or another, almost everyone is scammed online. Majority of the online purchases nowadays are made by millennials, which means they are the ones that end up being scammed more. Moreover, not only do millennials shop online, they also spend more time browsing the internet, which makes them feel secure. They also share their personal information online and cyber scams thrive on such information so millennials get exploited. Also, they tend to access their financial information on public Wi-Fi networks, don’t password protect their devices and share data with others.

Millennials practice the culture of sharing everything

This is the age of social media, which means that millennials have embraced the culture of sharing everything. There are different formats such as text, video and images, which are used for sharing this information. Sometimes, this boils down to sharing vital personal details like passwords as well. Due to constant sharing, the element of trust between people increases when they are connected online. This exposes them to the risk of identity theft and other cyber scams. Smart scammers often take advantage of unsuspecting millennials by pretending to be useful connections. You can find some useful tips for staying safe at nerdrandom.com.

Millennials are trapped by job scams

Telecommuting has become quite popular in this age, but the proliferation of these online jobs has also brought an increase of work-from-home job scams. The highest number of victims of these cyber scams are none other than millennials. There are 60 to 70 job scams for every legitimate job and it is easy to fall for them because they seem tailor-made for you.

These are some of the main reasons why millennials are more susceptible to cyber scams and you need to be cautious to ensure you are not one of them.