The internet may well be useful, but it can be a bit of a minefield at times, and criminals are one of the reasons why. Anyone looking to take your data or money (or even both) is usually looking to push boundaries with a fraudulent sense of urgency, flushing your details into a hole they can use for themselves.
It’s something better known as a “scam”, and a real sense of frustration for anyone who has any sense of a life in the digital world, because we’ve all dealt with it and are in a sense also always dealing with it.
While it doesn’t seem like scams will ever actually stop, cybersecurity specialist Trend Micro has recently chimed in with research noting not only how we all likely know someone getting scammed, but that age doesn’t prevent it, even if some generations are more digitally fluent than others.
You might expect older generations to fall for a scam more readily, but research suggests that might not only be the case.
Trend’s recent study cites 1 in 5 Australian have been scammed, or at least had someone close to them scammed, with 17 percent of the scam experiences linked to a scam about tax or some other government purpose. Given it is currently tax time (as of the time this was published), that information could just make you more aware, and raise your senses just a little bit.
The study covered online life and AI, and covered 1,000 Australians and a good 9,000 other people from around the world, noting that while government-related scams were common, major investments were also a key time that led to scams, as well as offers for a new job.
Regardless of what they were being scammed about, the age didn’t prevent someone from falling for the scam.
Only 8 percent of Australians aged 18 to 24 looked to verify whether an organisation was legitimate, while only 17 percent enabled and updated privacy and security settings, and only 33 percent used security software that was up to date.
That leaves a good portion of young people with potentially unsafe online security approaches, though security habits also weren’t consistent across the ages, either. Trend’s research does suggest that those in the 55 to 64 age bracket are the least likely to monitor online banking for suspicious activity, while those over the age of 65 the least likely to check wether a website’s URL is actually legit or even secure.
“Major life moments like job interviews or buying a house often involve big decisions and unfamiliar parties,” said Lynette Owens, Vice President of Consumer Education and Marketing at TrendLife, part of Trend Micro.
“That’s exactly what scammers exploit. These attacks feel more convincing because they’re tied to real events in people’s lives, when they are already sharing sensitive information,” she said.
“As more of these life moments move online, digital literacy becomes critical. Australians need to know how to verify who they are dealing with, be wary of messages designed to create urgency, and slow down before acting.”
While Trend’s research paints a somewhat bleak picture for how Australians across several age groups approach security, there is one area where they all seem to be consistent: struggling with AI’s place in security.
It’s something that’s changing very quickly, as AI-related security issues increase, whether seeing criminals use AI for deep fakes or scams, or even whether AI tools are at risk from your data being shared.
Yet while every generation is notably unsure, many are also very concerned, with neatly half of all people concerned about the misuse of information on and through the tools. In short, trying to stay safe in an era where AI plays a big part.
It’s a problem without an obvious and immediate solution, but one that suggests users should tread carefully, approaching emails, phone texts, calls, and other forms of communication with caution. It doesn’t take much to have an extra think before you click or give extra detail to someone else, but it can take seconds to undermine it all simply falling for the urgency of a message rather than simply waiting.
With urgency a key part of the scammer’s playbook, pausing for a moment to think is one of the better things anyone can do.
Coupled with key approaches, such as hovering over a URL before clicking, setting up multi-factor authentication or switching to passkeys, or simply just deleting the message and moving on might just save someone from becoming one of the statistics, and feeling a little safer overall.
