Statistics show that the younger generations are falling prey to scams at an alarming rate. Usually, the narrative is centered around the elderly falling victim to financial fraud, but recent data paints a different image, where millennials and Gen Z become the primary targets. Overconfidence arising from their familiarity with technology, a trait of younger adults, appears to make them a ripe target for scams.
Adewale Adeife, a cybersecurity expert at EY, explained to Investopedia that younger adults often believe their tech sophistication grants them immunity against scams, which makes it easier for them to fall for fast-money schemes.
Experts have identified numerous scam types that target different age groups and the psychological factors that make younger people especially vulnerable. Research shows that younger adults have fallen victim to fraud at a faster rate than their older counterparts, even though scam success rate– scams where money is misappropriated– has increased across all age groups.
Scammers take advantage of the differing characteristics and lifestyle habits of different age groups. 44% of those aged 20 to 29 who reported fraud had financial losses, compared to 24% in the 70 to 79 age group, according to FTC data from 2024. Dovetailing this information, The PYMTS Intelligence and Featurespace study discovered that 83% of young adults have succumbed to suspicious links in messages at least once, with 39% of millennials and 36% of Gen Zs experiencing household losses compared to only 19% of baby boomers and adults.
Conversely, no demographic is immune to scam risks. Data from the FTC shows a 40% increase in the number of frauds where money was parted with from 2023 to 2024. Being a digital native does not necessarily protect one from scams. A study from March 2025 found that frequent social media users, typically younger people, tend to make impulsive decisions instead of evaluating risks systematically.
The study also discovered that younger individuals are more likely to trust recognized senders without questioning suspicious links and to make quick decisions driven by a fear of missing out on social opportunities. These characteristics align with scammers' tactics and increase susceptibility to 'phishing.'
Jennifer Klütsch, one of the authors of the study, and her team concluded that the trust and habitual use of social media by young adults inherently make it an effective place for social engineering attacks. Fraudsters tailor unique scams to the digital habits and life stages of young adults. This demographic is thus scammed at a higher rate than other generations. The FTC has highlighted that anyone can become a victim of a scam, dispelling the popular belief that only older individuals are targeted.