Try listening to your elders for a change.
Gen Z know-it-alls are three times more likely to fall victim to online scams than their boomer grandparents, experts warn.
They are often heard boasting about being raised on the Internet, but the younger generation increasingly feels unsafe there, with the FBI reporting a 2,000 percent increase in losses due to scams affecting those under 20. , jumping from an estimate 8.2 million dollars in 2017 to 210 million dollars in 2022.
Born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, the digital natives of Generation Z are said to be easy prey for bad actors, who take advantage of their love of social media and online shopping. MLive first reported.
According to the Michigan Department of Attorney General, young people are being bombarded with phishing emails and ads from fake websites targeting their tastes and desires.
According to a 2022 report from the National Cybersecurity AllianceThey are also frequently victims of identity theft, account hacking and romance scams, once again, in much higher numbers than older adults.
The Michigan Attorney General also warned about bogus job offers and promises of career advancement that depend on the applicant shelling out money for required training or equipment, something a real employer would not do.
The attorney general’s office warned younger users to also take online security more seriously, citing that members of Generation Z rarely use two-factor authentication in apps; This and the habit of reusing passwords make them more vulnerable to scams, they said.
A survey by Deloitte, first reported by Vox, showed that Gen Z was twice as likely as boomers to have their social accounts hacked: 17 percent compared to 8 percent. Additionally, 14 percent of Gen Zers surveyed admitted that sharing their location information in posts had led to misuse.
