Only 25% Of Brits Over 60 Have Been Scammed, Making Pensioners Savvier Than Teenagers

Financial scams are on the rise but new research commissioned by Unbiased reveals that pensioners may be more scam savvy than teenagers. In fact 66% of teens and young people have admitted to falling for scams, as opposed to 25% of those aged over 60 – and a quarter of teens said that this happened more than once.

However, it’s not surprising as the research also found that 52% of 16-29 year olds admit to using the same password across all devices, compared to just 24% of those aged over 60.

What about celebrity backed scams?

Worryingly, the rise of financial scams also includes a growing number of online promotions and endorsements from celebrities, which are simply not true. Not only does this take advantage of household names, it compromises the trust of people who have no reason to think that scammers may use celebrities maliciously.

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 celebrity fronted advert, whilst only 15% of those aged over 60 would.

Are we reporting scams?

Fortunately, 90% of us would report a scam, though only 17% to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Yet of those who wouldn’t, 29% said it wasn’t worth it, as they knew they’d never get their money back and 26% say they have no idea where to report the experience. 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% saying it’s happened more than once.

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.

What to do if you have been the victim of a financial scam

If you’ve been the victim of a financial scam, there is some great information available on what to do from Citizens Advice. You can report a financial scam to the FCA and report a financial scam to the police via Action Fraud.

If you would like to talk about any of the issues in this article or need more general help with your finances, please get in touch with us.