We often imagine that the victims of scams are older people who are less knowledgeable about the internet. But it cannot happen. A new study shows that a quarter of Britons aged 18 to 34 are not sufficiently suspicious of fraudulent e-mails and text messages. Detecting scams can seem easy, especially if you know how to spot them. And the first clue is spelling mistakes. Messages sent with the intention of extorting money or confidential information from users often contain spelling errors. However, young Britons are not suspicious of typos, as found in a report on online fraud by Visa and the Institute for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University.
The two organizations analyzed 155 emails and SMS in which scammers pretended to be a trusted third party such as a bank, administration or an e-commerce site. This technique, known as “phishing”, is intended to encourage consumers to provide their personal data.
Fraudsters do not lack imagination when it comes to obtaining this information. They often invite victims to click on a link (87%) or to solve the “problem” by modifying, for example, the delivery time of the package (72%). Some even try to entice users with unique promotions. offers (32%).
And it seems that British people between the ages of 18 and 34 can easily be fooled by these fraudulent messages. In fact, a quarter of them are not able to recognize such messages. Meanwhile, perhaps surprisingly, only 11% of the respondents aged 55+ fall for the scam. This is partly due to the fact that young Britons do not pay enough attention to cues such as the spelling and syntax of malicious emails and text messages. Another 29% admitted that they are not sufficiently suspicious about the persuasive tone of such messages.
Impersonation scams going on on Instagram
“With so many platforms and online marketplaces to browse and buy, online shopping puts a world of possibilities at our fingertips. However, as we are all spending more time online, it is good to know what we can do to keep ourselves safe,” explains Mandy Lamb, managing director of Visa UK and Ireland, says in the study.
To avoid being duped, the number one rule is to never click on a link received by text message from an unknown number claiming to be an organization or business. Also, be wary of messages that claim to be from someone close to you. The email address of a friend or family member can be easily spoofed.
This last word of caution also applies to social networks. Lloyds Banking Group recently noticed that scammers are increasingly posing as trustworthy people on Instagram to extort money from (young) users of the social network. They often claim that their phone has been damaged or stolen in order to justify going through social networks to keep in touch with the victim. And this fraudulent technique is bearing fruit, as the British bank notes that this type of scam has increased 155% on Instagram in the past 12 months. Proof that, caution is more important than ever on the Internet.
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