Study: Millennials More Likely To Be Scammed Than Elderly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A common misconception is that elderly folk are the most likely to fall victims to scams, especially when it comes to the internet. However, it isn't elderly folks that are reporting to having been duped frequently by scammers. This year, millennials have fallen reported falling victim to more scams than their elders.

The Federal Trade Commission's 2017 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book reports that consumers in their 20s reported losing more money to fraud than consumers in their 70s.

The databook, compiled for use by law enforcement partners, included complaints by 2.68 million consumers regarding fraud, identity theft and other types of consumer concerns. This is a decrease from last year's nearly 3 million consumer-related complaints.

This is the first time such a trend has occurred, the FTC says.

Among people aged 20-29 who reported fraud, 40 percent indicated they lost money. Meanwhile, just 18 percent of those 70 and older who reported fraud indicated they lost any money.

However, when older adults did report losing money to a scammer it was found that they lost more money than younger people.

The median reported loss for people age 80 and older was $1,092 compared to $400 for those aged 20-29.

Consumers reported losing a total of $905 million to fraud in 2017 -- $63 million more than in 2016.

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