22% of youths would reply to scammers

THE National Consumer Agency (NCA) is warning young adults to be scam savvy after research revealed that one-in-five people under 24 will respond when contacted by a scammer online or by telephone.

According to research carried out on behalf of the NCA, people aged between 16 and 24 are most likely to be duped, with 22% replying to the scam.

The top scams identified in the research include:

- The foreign lottery scam — “You have just won €1 million in the Spanish lottery”.

- The work from home scam — “you can sell products from home, but you need to buy the stock in advance”.

- Premium rate telephone prize scam — “call this number to collect your prize”.

- IT problem scam — the scammer requests the target to download a file from a website and gains access to their computer, where they can access personal details.

The survey of 1,000 adults also revealed that 61% of consumers indicated that they or a family member had been targeted. Of those who were approached, 28% replied to a scam with the intention to participate, while 11% said they have handed over money or information.

The survey also found that those aged 35-54 are most likely to have been targeted, with four-in-five of those in this age bracket claiming to be confident in their ability to spot a scam.

Those least confident are under 24s and over 65s. Email (38%) is the primary channel through which consumers have been targeted with a scam.

NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said she believes scammers have become more sophisticated in trying to con consumers out of their money and identity.

“For example, scammers are trying to localise scams, such as sending emails purporting to be from Government bodies, such as the Revenue Commissioners, from Irish banks, or even sending the e-mails in Irish. So, it is more important than ever for consumers to keep one step ahead of the scammers.”

She said consumers should be particularly mindful of the personal information they divulge on social media sites.