Gen Z falls for online scams more than their boomer grandparents do. The generation that grew up with the internet isn’t invulnerable to becoming the victim of online hackers and scammers.

Rob200 , 5 months ago

I disagree partially with this article. While not every gen z tech consumer is a Linux user. Not all of them fall for scams. It's rather, the people who are so invested in certain franchise like Fortnight, and trying to get free robux or vbucks. Or trying to get free gift cards to get free curency to buy games on console storefronts. There a some that are gen z the do exersize common sense. Being a gen z myself, I would say I am one of those that do exersize common sense guarding form scams.

jerrythegenius , 5 months ago

It made you sound really old when you said "fortnight" and not "fortnite"

Angry_Maple , 5 months ago

Not to mention some of Gen Z is still only around 12 years old.

risencode , 5 months ago

Well yeah, there's a lot more of them on the internet.

Nommer , 5 months ago

And people have unirinically said that zoomers don't need to learn computers and tech because advancements in UI have made that obsolete.

ikidd , 5 months ago

I think they're way more used to just giving information away without thinking about it. "They have everything already, why fight it" just plays into the hands of scammers.

TrueStoryBob , 5 months ago

So... based on this headline... studies from the NFT craze a year and a half ago are finally coming out.

Shady_Shiroe , 5 months ago

I feel like the scams are just more intracate nowadays.

Shdwdrgn , 5 months ago

They're really not. I got one just this morning, your credit has been placed on hold for your AmEx card, log in to update your info... Yeah ok I don't have any credit cards, and besides why is a pet boarding domain sending me AmEx emails? If you can't spot something that obvious then you really don't deserve to have a bank account.

Shady_Shiroe , 5 months ago

Have you seen the scams that spoof your banks phone number so it looks official, only way to check if it is real is to call back.

Shdwdrgn , 5 months ago

Are you referring to actual phone calls? I mean everyone should know by now that phone numbers can be easily spoofed, we see that in every call claiming we need a new credit card or car insurance. The easiest way to see if a call is a scam is to force them to go off-script. Like when they start asking for personal info like your SSN... you called me, why don't YOU know my information? Of course they'll say they need it to verify who I am, and I'll just tell them that they should already know who I am since they called me. Another big tell is if they want more than just the last four of your SSN... absolutely no legitimate agency will ask for the entire thing over the phone.

I guess it just depends on how much free time you have, but sometimes I just like messing with these people to waste their time. Some will get downright angry when they realize you have no intention of falling for their scam, but mostly they just hang up.

redditReallySucks , 5 months ago

Thats a dumb one but I had emails come from the real domain of the company.

Shdwdrgn , 5 months ago

Sounds like a company that shouldn't be trusted if they're getting hacked that easily?

Marin_Rider , 5 months ago

things will be worrying when people Deepfake family members

cmgvd3lw , 5 months ago

Why do we have names for generations? Stupid.

Nachorella , 5 months ago

Yeah, it's become the new sports teams. Everyone loves blaming their problems on whatever generation they least identify with, when realistically there's no fair way to judge an entire generation and no fair way to compare groups with such large age gaps and wildly different experiences growing up.

twack , 5 months ago

Because "the youngest cohort falls for online scams more than the oldest cohort" means the same thing but communicates far less information.

autotldr Bot , 5 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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“People that are digital natives for the most part, they’re aware of these things,” says Scott Debb, an associate professor of psychology at Norfolk State University who has studied the cybersecurity habits of younger Americans.

In one 2020 study published in the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime, Debb and a team of researchers compared the self-reported online safety behaviors of millennials and Gen Z, the two “digitally native” generations.

But because Gen Z relies on technology more often, on more devices, and in more aspects of their lives, there might just be more opportunities for them to encounter a bogus email or unreliable shop, says Tanneasha Gordon, a principal at Deloitte who leads the company’s data & digital trust business.

Staying safer online could involve switching browsers, enabling different settings in the apps you use, or changing how you store passwords, she noted.

Gordon floated the idea of major social media platforms sending out test phishing emails — the kind that you might get from your employer, as a tool to check your own vulnerabilities — which lead users who fall for the trap toward some educational resources.

But really, Guru says, the key to getting Gen Z better prepared for a world full of online scams might be found in helping younger people understand the systems that incentivize them to exist in the first place.

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The original article contains 1,313 words, the summary contains 228 words. Saved 83%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

werefreeatlast , 5 months ago

But these are sophisticated scams where the scammer sounds exactly like Uncle John and he wants you to help him out with some chips and a Costco gift card for Amazon. That's pretty normal because your uncle doesn't like going to the mall.

It's not like the boomers sending all their money because a prince is going to invest it in recovery his kingdumb or something like that and then pay it back tenfold.

Brekky , 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago)

I means if we're talking about things like ordering from wish/temu (which I absolutely would) then yeah I can totally see this.