Scammers are preying on vulnerable young people affected by the rising cost of living. Fall out from the Covid-19 pandemic and ever increasing use of social media are also helping make younger adults more at risk when it comes to being tricked out of their cash.
And while fraudsters can target anyone, of any age, there are some scams where younger people may be particularly at risk. Sharon Davies, CEO of education charity Young Enterprise (young-enterprise.org.uk), says: “The combined effect of a cost-of-living crisis, Covid fall-out and increased social media use, leaves young people vulnerable to online scams.”
Bogus ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes may involve cryptocurrencies and come with fake celebrity endorsements. Ms Davies adds: “One common scam is fake brand collaboration requests, from people who appear to be working on behalf of labels offering paid work.” Such scams are designed to trick you into buying products that don’t exist, she says.
Criminals will also post fake job adverts to attract students, or anyone looking to get on the career ladder. They may use these to harvest personal information, or persuade victims to pay “admin” fees.
Money muling scams can also target younger people, who are asked to move funds through their bank account, in exchange for a cut of the cash. In reality, this is money laundering, and could lead to a criminal record.
Students could be among those targeted with fake offers of rental accommodation, which may want them to pay upfront. Younger drivers may be offered fake car insurance deals by “ghost brokers”, often on social media.
These are worthless, as the personal details on the policy are altered to make the deal appear cheap. Often, it is only when the driver makes a claim that they realise the policy is not valid and they are uninsured.
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Young Enterprise has the following tips to avoid scams:
1. Check the privacy settings on your social media accounts. Often, you can put blockers in place to stop spam accounts and strangers contacting you directly.
2. If something looks suspect, or you receive a message you’re unsure about, get a second opinion from someone you trust. Most platforms have options to report something that doesn’t look right, so be sure to flag suspect profiles.
3. Don’t click on links or attachments in suspicious emails, and avoid using banking apps and inputting personal information while using public Wi-Fi.
4. As scammers regularly adopt new tactics, keep on top of the news to see the latest trends being reported. This will help you spot and avoid scams.
