‘Pensioners are more savvy than teenagers when it comes to scams and online security’

New research commissioned by unbiased.co.uk has highlighted that 16-29 year olds are scammed much more than pensioners. In fact 66% of teens and young people have admitted to falling for scams, as opposed to 25% of those aged 60+ – and a quarter of teens said that this happened more than once!

Not surprisingly, as 52% of 16-29 year olds admit to using the same password across all devices, compared to 24% of  those aged 60+.

And when it comes to online celebrity endorsements, over half of Britons (51%) would assume the product or service was safe to buy and certainly not a scam. Of this statistic, 60% of 16-29 year olds would trust a celeb fronted advert, whilst only 15% of aged 60+ Brits would.

Of the 16-29 age group, 30% have fallen for a cold call, and 36% for a social media scam.

Phishing and investment scams are more likely to catch out those in the 60+ age group.

Fortunately, 90% of 16-29 year olds and 90% of 60+ would report it. Yet one in ten Brits wouldn’t report a scam – with 29% of those said it wasn’t worth it, as they knew they’d never get their money back. Almost three in ten (29%) admit they’ve just chalked it up as bad luck, 27% chose to deal with it privately themselves and 26% confess they have NO IDEA who to report the experience to.

The 90% of Brits who would report a scam say they’d contact their bank (63%), the police (59 %) or Action Fraud (32 percent). Only 17% would report it to the FCA.

The research also took a closer look at social media scams, with 41% of the 1,500 Britons polled admitting they’ve previously had an account hacked, targeted or duplicated by scammers – and of this, 16% say it’s happened more than once.

And the result of these scams is clearly affecting the nation’s mental health, with 36% of respondents saying it made them feel violated and 35% admitting it’s made them less trusting of social media.

Karen Barrett, Founder and CEO of unbiased.co.uk, which, to date, has helped more than 10 million people find trusted financial advice says: “A lot of people turn to Unbiased when they have been affected by investment or pension scams, but we are here to provide support, whatever your age, life stage or financial goal. Investing can be a great way to make your money work harder, but scammers will usually try to lure you with a deal that seems risk free. The old saying about “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is” is correct in the case of scams! If the sales tactics seem pressurised, or you’ve been contacted out of the blue, speak to the FCA, or one of our 27,000 trusted and regulated financial advisers. Unbiased stands by Martin Lewis and considers the inclusion of celebrity fronted scams in the online safety bill is a win for financial services industry best practices”

The research also found that 14% of the nation has fallen victim to investment scams, 12% to postal fraud, and 10% to dating scams.

And when Brits are trying to identify potential scams, 74% will look out for spelling errors, 69% would be suspicious if the request seemed odd and 61% wouldn’t trust an email depending on the sender’s name.

53% also admit they’d feel suspicious if an email or post online had blurry images or logos.

For more information or if you have been affected by a scam, please contact www.unbiased.co.uk or tune in to The Unbiased Podcast every Wednesday.

Karen Barrett is CEO and Founder of Unbiased, connecting people with trusted financial advice. With more than 10 million people helped with professional advice on everything from starting a business to retirement planning, now’s the time to find your perfect financial adviser and make more confident financial decisions

This research of 1,500 UK based Britons aged 18 and over was commissioned by Unbiased and conducted by Perspectus Global on behalf of Unbiased during February 2022.

For more information on scams, go to the Unbiased.co.uk website – but this might be a useful starter: https://www.unbiased.co.uk/life/get-smart/investment-scams-a-consumer-s-guide-on-how-to-spot-and-avoid-them

 
The Unbiased Podcast will empower you to take control of your money and make confident financial decisions. You’ll get straight-talking, practical advice from Karen Barrett, CEO and founder of unbiased.co.uk, together with insights from experts and well-known guests who’ll be joining the podcast. Take control of your money, and your future every Wednesday.