The Akamai, cloud services company that drives and protects online life, recently released a report on e-commerce and the online practices of Brazilian consumers. Among other relevant information is that Generation Z is the one that reports being the most victimized by digital scams.
Just 44,76% of respondents aged 18 to 24, and 45,33% of people between 24 and 29 years old claim to have never been scammed. These are the only age groups in which more than half of the people claim to have been victims – in the baby boomer generation (over 60), they are 52,38%. Thus, among the respondents, the number of people in Generation Z suffering scams is 17% higher than among baby boomers.
Generation Z, in its most common definition, consists of people born between 1996 and 2012 – having, thus, between 11 and 28 years old. Brazilian numbers reflect a global trend. Last year, a similar researchin the United States, carried out by Deloitte, pointed out that members of Generation Z suffered 3 times more scams than those of the baby boomer generation.
"This may sound counterintuitive to many", inclusive for the young themselves, says Helder Ferrão, strategy manager for industries at Akamai LATAM. "Generation Z, after all, they are the so-called digital natives, people who did not have contact with the pre-internet world.”
"But", continue, things ended up being more complex than that: there was recently a wave of news about employers complaining about younger people, that arrive in the market without knowing basic concepts of computer science, what are files and folders. Because your experience is with cell phones and tablets, but not computers. There was, in fact, a deficit in computer education, but young people are quicker to learn – just as they adopt new technologies, adopt new habits.”
An example of this is the adoption of new technologies by younger people: 75,52% of people between 18 and 24 years old claim to use Pix for their online purchases, a number that decreases progressively with age, until it reaches its lowest point, 47,62%, among those over 60.
It is this taste for innovation that ends up exposing younger people to scams. "What is really happening is that older generations trust mobile phones less". People over 60 tend to simply not use banking apps because they do not trust technology.”
"If there is a scammer who targets the elderly", concludes Helder, "there are also specialists in youth". These scams are based on dating apps, investment apps, apps to find a job. Scammers circulate ads on young people's favorite networks, like Instagram and TikTok – in an hour these apps and ads will be taken down, why they are against the policies of app stores, but then the damage is done.”
Consumer habits
The most common scam at any age group was buying products and not receiving them, what affected one in every four Brazilians – and, curiously, here Generation Z and the baby boomers tie as the most affected, with almost 30% going through this situation. The second most common scam is having the card cloned after a purchase on a website: 14% of Brazilians, but here the age group between 18 and 24 performs better than any other: only 9% have gone through this, versus 17% of those over 60. In this particular scam, baby boomers have double the chance of falling compared to younger people.
In addition to security issues, Akamai's research also brought several other revelations about the online consumption habits of Brazilians. The vast majority – 74% – claims to shop online at least once a month, with 6% doing it every day. Only 2% said they never shop online. The generation most inclined to shop is the millennials: in the age range of 30 to 39 years, 84% are buying at least every month (the number is 74% among 18 to 24 years old, 80% between 25 and 29 and 58% for over 60.
Another generational difference is the preference for national or foreign shopping sites. When talking about electronics, the youngest (18 to 24) prefer international marketplaces (33%) over national ones (30%), while those over 60 prefer national products (33%) versus foreign ones (23%). "Here, also, you can see the greater confidence of young people in novelties, like stores without tradition in Brazil, comment Helder. "Even though the generational clash always provides plenty to talk about", the young people of today are not different in everything from those of the past. They are subject to human factors, including falling for scams, like everyone else.”
The complete report, in the form of an e-book, can be downloadedhere.
