FTC Reports Millennials More Likely to Fall Prey to Fraud

Lots of people fall for scams. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says millennials are more susceptible.

According to the FTC’s new Data Spotlight, millennials are 25 percent more likely to report losing money to fraud than other adults (age 40 and over).

Millennials are 77 percent more likely than other age groups to say they lost money to a scam that started with an email. By contrast, they are slightly less likely than other age groups to report losing money to scams that started with a phone call.

This means people in this cohort are significantly at risk to falling prey to real state closing scams, such as wire fraud. This is one of the reasons why ALTA targeted metropolitan areas favorable to first-time homebuyers when it launched its online advertising campaign to raise awareness about wire fraud. Since June, ALTA has run ad campaigns in Birmingham, Ala.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Virginia Beach, Va.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Tampa, Fla.; and Seattle, Wash. So far through the digital online campaign, ALTA has delivered more than 10 million ad impressions to potential homebuyers in these six markets. ALTA plans to target consumers in Houston and Nashville during its next round of advertising.

Specifically, the FTC reports the top five frauds to which Millennials report losing money are online shopping frauds, business imposters, government imposters, fake check scams and romance scams.

The amount of money millennials report losing to scams is one key difference. Even though Millennials are more likely to report losing money, their median individual reported loss of $400 is much lower than what other age groups report.

Been hit by a wire fraud scam? File a complaint with the FBI at www.ic3.gov. Want to help raise awareness? Join ALTA’s Coalition to Stop Real Estate Wire Fraud.

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