Millennials Scammed More than Seniors

[FrgMstr]

The Federal Trade Commision has released its Annual Summary of Complaints Reported by Consumers late last week. That summarized that a bigger percentage of Millenials were fraud victims than were senior citizens in 2017, however the amount lost by Millenials was smaller.

​

Among consumers ages 20 to 29, 40% of those who made fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission lost money, compared with just 18% of those who were ages 70 and older, according to an annual report from the federal agency released Thursday. The median loss for people between the ages of 70 and 79 was $621, versus just $400 for those ages 20 to 29, according to the FTC. This could be a virtue of the financial situations for these different groups of consumers, Vaca said. "It’s possible that some older consumers have a little bit more money to lose," Vaca said. "It might also be that con artists when they get someone on the phone might assume they have more money to lose."

 

[prime2515102]

 

[kirbyrj]

 

[Master_shake_]

 

[Zion Halcyon]

Well that is hardly surprising.

Millennials run on emotion instead of brains. The only reason that they have lost less than seniors is because they don't have as much as seniors do. Many of them are Deadbeats.

 

[mullet]

lol

 

[Jim Kim]

I get calls all the time from the computer illiterate who have received a phone call from "A Microsoft Certified Engineer" asking them if there computer is slow. Most of the time they just get locked out because the criminal turns on Syskey Encryption. But there have been a few who go get iTunes gift cards and lose $400 dollars to the random criminal on the other end of the phone. Age does not seem to make a difference.

 

[bugleyman]

While interesting, this data is absolutely useless for drawing conclusions about fraud in the population as a whole. The problem is that this data is about fraud reported by consumers. There is any number of reasons this is problematic. For example, older folks may be both less aware if they've been victimized, or less forthcoming about having been victimized if they are aware. The fact is we just don't know.

 

[GotNoRice]

Most millennials spend all day on their computer and phone. Many seniors still spend all day watching TV and don't even have a computer. Hard to get scammed while you are watching Jeopardy.

 

[Master_shake_]

Most millennials spend all day on their computer and phone. Many seniors still spend all day watching TV and don't even have a computer. Hard to get scammed while you are watching Jeopardy.

don't you think during that time millennials would read stories about phone and internet scams?

or by on their phone do you mean on facebook gawking at others useless posts?

shouldn't they be more educated on it?

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Only $1 a day will feed thousands of big eyed puppies. You can spare $1 a day can't you?

 

[kju1]

Only $1 a day will feed thousands of big eyed puppies. You can spare $1 a day can't you?

I know people who would look at that and say "Dinner!"

 

[NeghVar]

The Elderly: Those who did not transition well from analog to digital and little knowledgeable exposure to the internet. Basically know about email to keep in touch with the grandkids. Swindled by spam scammers.
Millennials: The sense of entitlement. Pristine self. Little to no exposure to all the negative things this day in age. Leave home and expect life to be a bunch of cupcakes and rainbows. Everyone is nice to me and gives me things. The perfect Utopia. Then reality hits them like a freight train at 60 mph.

Spoiler

 

[vegeta535]

don't you think during that time millennials would read stories about phone and internet scams?

or by on their phone do you mean on facebook gawking at others useless posts?

shouldn't they be more educated on it?

They are only interested in what a Kardashian is doing or watching cat videos.

 

[deton8]

Are we sure it's not the same amount of millennials as seniors being scammed, but the millennials reporting it more because they think someone actually cares?

 

[vegeta535]

As much we like to make fun of Millenials the current crop of kids are worse. They are completely retarded. They sit on their phones none stop and can't handle anything with out their hand held. they are incapable of critical thinking or common sense. Forget about having them do any kind of physical labor.

 

[kju1]

As much we like to make fun of Millenials the current crop of kids are worse. They are completely retarded. They sit on their phones none stop and can't handle anything with out their hand held. they are incapable of critical thinking or common sense. Forget about having them do any kind of physical labor.

I am ok with stupid. Stupid can usually be fixed with education/training. Only about 1% or so of the populace is incapable of learning. note the capable part.

What I cant stand is emotional immaturity which is what these kids have. Thats much harder, if not impossible, to fix.

 

[Deleted member 204526]

It's been a given since the dawn of personal computing that younger generations are more technically savvy than older generations, but I think if you plotted it out, you'd see we're on the downslope of a bell curve. Being able to poke at apps on a smartphone doesn't make one technically savvy, or any kind of savvy. Indeed, I'd say it has the opposite effect on mental and intellectual development.

 

[katanaD]

a few who go get iTunes gift cards

thats what really boggles my mind. why would a company ask to be paid in gift cards???


and why did that not set off massive alarm bells when they asked??

 

[Domingo]

Neither remembers the "wild west" days of the internet and both are too trusting as a result.

 

[modi123]

If someone wanted to know how these scams on millennials ran, what would be their most likely structure? Would this be a usual pump and dump/down on my luck indigogo campaign, rando messing from the "FBI/IRS/MSr13" about their phone/pc/tablet being infected and a trackerless walmart greendot card would help fix the problem? Maybe the 'Debt Collector' scams? For profit educational shortcuts and learning aids?

Ah..ahhhh..errr.. asking for a friend who mostly certainly isn't looking to increase their retirement accounts through alternative funding vectors. Just some friendly financial cannibalization.

Spoiler

 

[Twisted Kidney]

Millennials have the exact same knowledge levels of this shit that we did when we were kids, the difference is that these technologies are utterly ubiquitous. Seniors only get scammed less because they embrace the technology less. The nerds know their shit, much like we did, but how many of those are there? Certainly no more than when we were all teens and young adults. So now that the average person has these comprehensive surveillance devices throughout their lives we are really falling down on training people to live in the era of big data and instant access, all people. Corporations are less and less accountable for their actions, while criminals are harder and harder to catch because they can be anywhere in the world.

The only consequence is on the victims shoulders now. As a society we need to get our shit together when it comes to preparing kids to go out into the world where they are increasingly preyed upon by people who won't ever be held responsible for their actions.

 

[bugleyman]

Hmmmm....lots of "kids these days" going on here, very little discussion of the actual contents of the article.

 

[NeghVar]

As much we like to make fun of Millenials the current crop of kids are worse. They are completely retarded. They sit on their phones none stop and can't handle anything with out their hand held. they are incapable of critical thinking or common sense. Forget about having them do any kind of physical labor.

It may actually be prepping for the future. By the time today elementary student are in the workforce, who know how much more physical labor will be replace by robots and automation. During the industrial revolution in Europe, steam engines replaced a large chunk manual labor. This resulted in some people throwing their wooden shoes (Sabot) into the machines. Hence the word, Sabotage.

The new sabot of this next round of replaced physical labor may be hackers. Who knows?

 

[voklskier4452]

I really love the constant bitching you see about Millenials on this forum considering some of you are likely Millenials since the age span is roughly 1981 to 1999 depending on where exactly you ask. It seems to ignore who exactly raised this supposedly awful generation and made us who we are. I guarantee Baby Boomers thought Gen Xers were just as awful.

 

[ZacharyS]

The title of the post on Hard: "Millennials Scammed More than Seniors"

The title of the post in the article: "More millennials reported losing money to scam in 2017 than senior citizens"

I mean I know its being pedantic but you completely changed the the initial reaction readers would get from the article by misrepresenting the title.

 

[kju1]

I really love the constant bitching you see about Millenials on this forum considering some of you are likely Millenials since the age span is roughly 1981 to 1999 depending on where exactly you ask. It seems to ignore who exactly raised this supposedly awful generation and made us who we are. I guarantee Baby Boomers thought Gen Xers were just as awful.

I am one and I agree 98% of them are utter shit. Same as the generation before me and the one after.

 

[nutzo]

As much we like to make fun of Millenials the current crop of kids are worse. Forget about having them do any kind of physical labor.

You mean like having a paper route and having to actually collect the money each month from the customers? (my first job as a teen)

Of course most people no longer get the paper, and even if they did, the minimum wage laws would make it illegal.
Looking back, I was making less than $1/hour due to the amount of time it took to ride my bike around to each house. I even had to provide my own bike & rubber bands

 

[vegeta535]

I am ok with stupid. Stupid can usually be fixed with education/training. Only about 1% or so of the populace is incapable of learning. note the capable part.

What I cant stand is emotional immaturity which is what these kids have. Thats much harder, if not impossible, to fix.

A great deal of these kids can't be taught. They have attention span of a nat. I interviewed kids out of HS and these kids had their phone in hand the entire interview. Looking and replying to text as I was talking to them. Their application went straight into the trash.

 

[kju1]

A great deal of these kids can't be taught. They have attention span of a nat. I interviewed kids out of HS and these kids had their phone in hand the entire interview. Looking and replying to text as I was talking to them. Their application went straight into the trash.

Thats not an attention span issue its a lack of respect and correct social behavior issue. Nobody ever taught them that was unacceptable and now its so ingrained into their lives that they just live that way and expect everyone else to do that. If we had been teaching them correctly from day one they would not be liket hat.

 

[lcpiper]

I am ok with stupid. Stupid can usually be fixed with education/training. Only about 1% or so of the populace is incapable of learning. note the capable part.

What I cant stand is emotional immaturity which is what these kids have. Thats much harder, if not impossible, to fix.

You sure you mean Stupid and not Ignorant because I was always told that you can't fix Stupid.

I can't say who's emotionally immature but I agree that it's pretty hard to fix without getting a good bit medieval on them. I mean that's what you do, you have to put them into near life or death situations to prod them to action, you have to force them to deal with things emotionally because it's the only choice they have, to face things in ways that open their eyes by reducing their world to the necessary.

Of course you probably shouldn't put short time limits on things as they may not be quick to come around ......

 

[kju1]

You sure you mean Stupid and not Ignorant because I was always told that you can't fix Stupid.

I can't say who's emotionally immature but I agree that it's pretty hard to fix without getting a good bit medieval on them. I mean that's what you do, you have to put them into near life or death situations to prod them to action, you have to force them to deal with things emotionally because it's the only choice they have, to face things in ways that open their eyes by reducing their world to the necessary.

Of course you probably shouldn't put short time limits on things as they may not be quick to come around ......

Well if you want to be pedantic about words.... I mean "incapable of learning". Many people today use stupid to refer to individuals who are uneducated. My statement was merely that the vast majority of people ARE capable of being educated. Some are not due to physical and or mental issues. Those are the truly stupid. The rest are just lazy or dont care to be educated.

Among other things emotionally immature people are the ones who say their feelings are hurt the moment you say something that they dont like. Example if I say MD is a bad state to live in and a person finds that offensive and reports me at work for "mental abuse" they are emotionally immature. Emotionally mature individuals can handle dissenting opinions without getting hurt feelings.

 

[wizdum]

As much we like to make fun of Millenials the current crop of kids are worse. They are completely retarded. They sit on their phones none stop and can't handle anything with out their hand held. they are incapable of critical thinking or common sense. Forget about having them do any kind of physical labor.

Its basically impossible to find a local contractor in my area now, because they're all booked out 1+ years due to lack of laborers. Yet all I hear the kids around here (I work in K12) complain about is the lack of jobs.... I bring up construction and they all have some excuse as to why they can't do physical labor. Everyone has some kind of "condition".

 

[lcpiper]

Well if you want to be pedantic about words.... I mean "incapable of learning". Many people today use stupid to refer to individuals who are uneducated. My statement was merely that the vast majority of people ARE capable of being educated. Some are not due to physical and or mental issues. Those are the truly stupid. The rest are just lazy or dont care to be educated.

Among other things emotionally immature people are the ones who say their feelings are hurt the moment you say something that they dont like. Example if I say MD is a bad state to live in and a person finds that offensive and reports me at work for "mental abuse" they are emotionally immature. Emotionally mature individuals can handle dissenting opinions without getting hurt feelings.

You may recall my claiming that my wife is Korean, and that I am like, getting to be an old man whether I like it or not. My wife was born in 1961 and so only a few short years after the end of the Korean War. She grew up in a very harsh world and do to this situation and her culture, many women did not go to school at all. Since I first knew her, she has always believed she was so fortunate that her parents wanted all the kids to at least finish high school. But many others were not so fortunate and my wife knows many even to this day who are functionally illiterate. My wive recognizes it but even she can't understand how they could choose to remain this way. These other women don't even know the address of their own homes. Now these women all married an American Serviceman and some still are, but these women were ignorant and uneducated then and remain so now and some are even older than my wife. Ignorance on this level is a tough prison to escape from, even more so when a person must also earn a living without that education. Anyone who has escaped this situation deserves respect because most people who are at this level of ignorance are functionally stupid if not literally stupid, and they can not be taught, most.

I do realize that you said "the vast majority of people...", and I am not saying that you are wrong. I suppose I am saying that there is more to what you are saying as well.

 

[Domingo]

Its basically impossible to find a local contractor in my area now, because they're all booked out 1+ years due to lack of laborers. Yet all I hear the kids around here (I work in K12) complain about is the lack of jobs.... I bring up construction and they all have some excuse as to why they can't do physical labor. Everyone has some kind of "condition".

It's probably the assumption that it won't pay well. For better or worse, physical labor is often associated with unskilled and underpaid laborers. Then you factor in exposure for people that get paid well to make social media postings, stream games, or write Google adwords and it becomes a tough sell. It isn't generational so much as a full-on cultural shift. At least in the US, Canada, and most of Western Europe. I can't speak for anywhere else.

 

[kju1]

You may recall my claiming that my wife is Korean, and that I am like, getting to be an old man whether I like it or not. My wife was born in 1961 and so only a few short years after the end of the Korean War. She grew up in a very harsh world and do to this situation and her culture, many women did not go to school at all. Since I first knew her, she has always believed she was so fortunate that her parents wanted all the kids to at least finish high school. But many others were not so fortunate and my wife knows many even to this day who are functionally illiterate. My wive recognizes it but even she can't understand how they could choose to remain this way. These other women don't even know the address of their own homes. Now these women all married an American Serviceman and some still are, but these women were ignorant and uneducated then and remain so now and some are even older than my wife. Ignorance on this level is a tough prison to escape from, even more so when a person must also earn a living without that education. Anyone who has escaped this situation deserves respect because most people who are at this level of ignorance are functionally stupid if not literally stupid, and they can not be taught, most.

I do realize that you said "the vast majority of people...", and I am not saying that you are wrong. I suppose I am saying that there is more to what you are saying as well.

Honestly I dont recall and my post was not meant to be a slight against your wife or her friends that are not learning. Rather my point was to say that even in their case they have the innate ability to learn (absent any mental or physical issues). The majority of human beings do. Being conditioned that one is incapable of it is absolutely a good reason why one has chosen not to learn. Its a disability just like anything else, just of a different type. I also agree that conditioning like that can be damn near impossible to break. And that is part of the problem imo. We have people, not just in those bad situations like your wife's friends, but growing upright here in America who are taught that the best they can do is graduate high school. They they will never learn advanced concepts because they arent smart enough.

I call bullshit on that idea. No you might not be Einstein. But you sure as hell can be taught a great deal of things. You can learn programming - you might not be John Carmack at it but you can learn it. You can learn how to fly a plane. Etc etc. People who say they cant learn are selling themselves short in most cases.

Maybe this is a better way to put it:

A small percentage of individuals legitimately are born with learning disabilities. The rest are ingrown due to circumstances, society, lack of motivation, or some other thing we as a society can control.

 

[NeoNemesis]

I love how everyone is shitting on millennials in this thread. I would wager that 90% of the people on here are millennials.

Raise your hand if you were born after 1980....

 

[lcpiper]

Honestly I dont recall and my post was not meant to be a slight against your wife or her friends that are not learning.............................

Oh No, I didn't take it as such.

And I agree with you're assessment.

 

[lcpiper]

I love how everyone is shitting on millennials in this thread. I would wager that 90% of the people on here are millennials.

Raise your hand if you were born after 1980....

Everyone is so ...... all inclusive. How does this month in 1960 fit?


And BTW, I'm not really much for hanging labels on people ...... except those damned Yuppies, they can burn in hell

 

[dgingeri]

This is what happens when lawyers rule. Instead of actually leaving fools to suffer their own folly, and learning from it to become better people, we get a generation of whiney fools who fall back on their lawyers to sue anyone and everyone.