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I think a lot of this is because a large amount of our society grew up without the Internet. To them, everything that looks professional is professional. They

I think a lot of this is because a large amount of our society grew up without the Internet. To them, everything that looks professional is professional. They are easy targets for scammers. Millennials and Gen-Z were raised on the Internet and therefore have an innate understanding of what is real and most importantly, what can be faked. Its a lot harder to scam. them. If I told my parents about a Nigerian oil executive who needs to move $20 million out of a bank account, they would scratch their head. If I told my 28 year old co-worker, he'd laugh and understand the joke. So, maybe in 20+ years, nobody will fall for these scams anymore.

er4hn 3y ago
Scams, and scammers, evolve. There will always be members of society that are lonely, desperate for money, or have some other situation that causes them to ignore red flags in a Nigerian 419 scam. Technology also enables new scams as time goes on. You can now use automation and AI-esque tools to research potential marks, simulate the voice of a loved one in a plausible distressing situation, and call to ask for money. That sort of thing was much harder 20+ years ago and is today as plausible as setting up a cold call list for selling home insurance was back in the day.
sebzim4500 3y ago
Presumably all the gullible people will lose their money to AI scams and then there won't be any AI scams.
Nextgrid 3y ago
A major danger is that there's money to be made pretending that everything that looks professional is professional and there are no risks nor bad actors. There's a generation or two that got taught (either actual teaching or just experience) that the internet is a dangerous place. When I was a child I was told not to share any personal details on the internet for example and that people could be lying/misrepresenting themselves. Nowadays, social media and all Big Tech platforms rely on people forgetting such advice and pretending like everything is trusted and there are no bad actors anywhere, because they themselves are a bad actor. They wouldn't want a wary user that never provides personal details nor makes any payments, because this also means they won't provide any personal details to Facebook nor spend any money on a Facebook-advertised product. I'm especially worried about the newer generations, those that never experienced the early days of the internet and started off in "walled gardens" and phones/tablets. Those are prime targets for scammers.
WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
> So, maybe in 20+ years, nobody will fall for these scams anymore. I do IT security; people send dodgy stuff to me for vetting. But I'm naturally on my haunches for those. I once got an gift card scam email sent from a friend's account. Scam was newish and arrived while I navigating a parking garage after a concert, car full of family. I initially responded ("w/ family, back to you soon") and was a few miles down the road before I had enough brain free to properly consider it. These guys spray and prey. Eventually they hit something.
BrandonS113 3y ago
The demographic most likely to fall for scams is the 20 year old. So. no.
- Timon3 3y ago
  Wow, I didn't expect that: > In 2021, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z young adults (ages 18-59) were 34% more likely than older adults (ages 60 and over) to report losing money to fraud, and some types of fraud stood out. Younger adults reported losses to online shopping fraud – which often started with an ad on social media – far more often than any other fraud type, and most said they simply did not get the items they ordered. Younger adults were over four times more likely than older adults to report a loss on an investment scam. Most of these were bogus cryptocurrency investment opportunities. And this age group reported losing money on job scams at more than five times the rate of older adults. Many college students reported that they were scammed after getting a message at their student email address about a so-called job opportunity. The median individual reported fraud loss by people 18-59 was $500 in 2021. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2022/12/who-experiences-scams-story-all-ages https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spo...
SturgeonsLaw 3y ago
How many people in their 20s and 30s fell for get-rich-quick crypto rugpulls? It wasn't tech-illiterate Boomers buying memecoins.

er4hn 3y ago

Scams, and scammers, evolve. There will always be members of society that are lonely, desperate for money, or have some other situation that causes them to ignore red flags in a Nigerian 419 scam. Technology also enables new scams as time goes on. You can now use automation and AI-esque tools to research potential marks, simulate the voice of a loved one in a plausible distressing situation, and call to ask for money. That sort of thing was much harder 20+ years ago and is today as plausible as setting up a cold call list for selling home insurance was back in the day.

sebzim4500 3y ago

Presumably all the gullible people will lose their money to AI scams and then there won't be any AI scams.

Nextgrid 3y ago

A major danger is that there's money to be made pretending that everything that looks professional is professional and there are no risks nor bad actors. There's a generation or two that got taught (either actual teaching or just experience) that the internet is a dangerous place. When I was a child I was told not to share any personal details on the internet for example and that people could be lying/misrepresenting themselves. Nowadays, social media and all Big Tech platforms rely on people forgetting such advice and pretending like everything is trusted and there are no bad actors anywhere, because they themselves are a bad actor. They wouldn't want a wary user that never provides personal details nor makes any payments, because this also means they won't provide any personal details to Facebook nor spend any money on a Facebook-advertised product. I'm especially worried about the newer generations, those that never experienced the early days of the internet and started off in "walled gardens" and phones/tablets. Those are prime targets for scammers.

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago

> So, maybe in 20+ years, nobody will fall for these scams anymore. I do IT security; people send dodgy stuff to me for vetting. But I'm naturally on my haunches for those. I once got an gift card scam email sent from a friend's account. Scam was newish and arrived while I navigating a parking garage after a concert, car full of family. I initially responded ("w/ family, back to you soon") and was a few miles down the road before I had enough brain free to properly consider it. These guys spray and prey. Eventually they hit something.

BrandonS113 3y ago

The demographic most likely to fall for scams is the 20 year old. So. no.

Timon3 3y ago
Wow, I didn't expect that: > In 2021, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z young adults (ages 18-59) were 34% more likely than older adults (ages 60 and over) to report losing money to fraud, and some types of fraud stood out. Younger adults reported losses to online shopping fraud – which often started with an ad on social media – far more often than any other fraud type, and most said they simply did not get the items they ordered. Younger adults were over four times more likely than older adults to report a loss on an investment scam. Most of these were bogus cryptocurrency investment opportunities. And this age group reported losing money on job scams at more than five times the rate of older adults. Many college students reported that they were scammed after getting a message at their student email address about a so-called job opportunity. The median individual reported fraud loss by people 18-59 was $500 in 2021. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2022/12/who-experiences-scams-story-all-ages https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spo...

SturgeonsLaw 3y ago

How many people in their 20s and 30s fell for get-rich-quick crypto rugpulls? It wasn't tech-illiterate Boomers buying memecoins.