Report: Millennials more gullible than the elderly

Who’s more likely to be the victim of a scam?

Is it the elderly woman who can’t keep up with the fast-talking con artist who tells her she’ll get a $1 million prize if she sends $5,000 via Western Union?

Or is it the Pokemon-hunting millennial who’s just sure they read somewhere that Justin Timberlake called the women of Sioux Falls the world’s most beautiful?

The Better Business Bureau says it’s the whipper-snapper.

The consumer agency’s Institute for Marketplace Trust surveyed 2,000 people and scanned data from the BBB’s Scam Tracker website to produce a report this week called “Cracking the Invulnerability Illusion,” the results of which suggest that millennials and well-educated folks are more likely to be taken precisely because they think they’re too smart to be.

“Optimism bias – the idea that we all think other people are more vulnerable than we are – is associated with risk-taking and failure to heed precautionary advice,” said the study’s co-author Rubens Pessanha. “Seniors may be the one group that does not suffer from optimism bias when it comes to scams.”

Pessanha said that’s because the elderly are told, almost daily, that con artists are out to get them.

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The study asked its participants a series of questions about scams, who's at risk and what should be done to prevent them. Eighty percent of respondents said the elderly were more likely to be victimized than those younger than 35. Blue-collar workers, the retired and those without college degrees were also more likely to be scammed than their counterparts, the survey-takers said.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is this one: 83 percent of the respondents said other people were more likely to fall for a scam than they were.

The numbers suggest that it can't always be someone else: One in four households have experienced a scam, 17 percent of Americans have been victims, and losses are estimated at $50 billion a year. In 2011, the Federal Trade Commission pinned the number of scam incidents at 40 million.

Actual demographic statistics on scams paint “a far more complex picture of relative risk,” the authors wrote. The likelihood of exposure to a scam has a lot more to do with whether someone falls for one than age, education or economic status.

The BBB’s Scam Tracker reports from 2015 show that those with college degrees and those between 25 and 35 were more likely to report a monetary loss than those older than 75.

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But what kinds of scams are hitting the young? The ones sent through modern technology, in large part.

Jim Hegarty, Director of the BBB’s Omaha office, said young people are targeted by text messages and emails warning of problems with a Netflix account, malware on their home computer or late student loan payments with surprising frequency.

The same Eastern European crime syndicates that target the elderly with sweepstakes scams have divisions that blast hundreds of thousands of emails and text messages in hopes of installing identity-thieving malware on computers or of connecting to student loan holders willing to hand over their personal information.

“They usually want you to click on a link or call a phone number,” Hegarty said. “That’s what connects you to the crook.”

In Omaha, Hegarty hears reports of identity theft sparked by email or text messages “monthly, if not weekly.”

Sara Rabern, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection in South Dakota, says it's not clear from the reports taken in Pierre that the age of the person targeted makes them more or less vulnerable. Risk tends to align with the technology a person uses and the multiple exposures from multiple devices.

Decades ago, there were only a few major avenues con artists could use: Snail mail, telephone calls or door-to-door solicitation. Now, smartphone apps, websites and social media applications gather data on users and offer scammers myriad opportunities to wring personal information from unsuspecting targets.

"The chances of being scammed are probably greater for the younger generation, just because there's so much more technology out there than there used to be," Rabern said.

Officers in the Sioux Falls Police Department take about scams impacting younger people, said spokesman Sam Clemens. The calls might not involve phone calls, but could involve online offers for "free" prizes that turn into cons.

“Millennials could be at risk, but it’s more about the type of scam that’s used,” Clemens said.

The BBB report suggests that consumer protection groups should push the message that everyone is at risk from identity thieves. More news items about common scams would be helpful, and respondents in the survey said prior knowledge of a particular scam would be helpful in prevention.

It also urges those who’ve been targeted to use technology to get their story out and to spread the message that it can happen to anyone.

As far as prevention is concerned, due diligence is important for all age groups, Hegarty said. Any time someone tells you your account needs attention, think twice. Don’t call the number provided in the email about your credit card. Call the number on your credit card. Don’t click the link, go to your online account.

Ask the company you work with if there’s a problem before trusting an email or text message.

“Reach out directly,” Hegarty said. "If you have a relationship with a company, they can tell you if there is a problem."

John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617, twitter.com/ArgusJHult   or  Facebook.com/ArgusReadersWatchdog