Akamai, the 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, it is that Generation Z is the group most reported to have been victims of digital scams.
Only 44.76% of respondents aged 18 to 24, and 45.33% of people aged 24 to 29, state that they have never been scammed. These are the only age groups in which more than half of the people report having been victims – in the baby boomer generation (over 60), it is 52.38%. Thus, among the respondents, the number of Generation Z individuals experiencing scams is 17% higher than among baby boomers.
Generation Z, in its most common definition, consists of people born between 1996 and 2012, thus between 11 and 28 years old. Brazilian numbers reflect a global trend. Last year,a similar researchIn the United States, a study conducted by Deloitte indicated that members of Generation Z experienced three times more scams than baby boomers.
"This may sound counterintuitive to many, including the young people themselves," says Helder Ferrão, strategy manager for industries at Akamai LATAM. Generation Z, after all, are the so-called digital natives, people who had no contact with the pre-internet world.
“But,” he continues, “things ended up being more complex than that: there was recently a wave of news about employers complaining about young people entering the market without knowing basic computer concepts, such as what files and folders are. Because their 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, they 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 say they use Pix for their online purchases, a number that progressively drops with age, until reaching its lowest level, 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 cell phones less. People over 60 tend to simply not use banking apps because they don't trust the technology.
“If there are scammers who target the elderly,” concludes Helder, “there are also those who specialize in young people. These scams are based on dating apps, investment apps, and job-finding apps. The scammers circulate ads on young people’s favorite networks, such as Instagram and TikTok – at some point these apps and ads are taken down because they are against the app store’s policies, but by then the damage is done.”
Consumer habits
The most common scam across all age groups was purchasing products and not receiving them, affecting one in four Brazilians – and, interestingly, Generation Z and Baby Boomers are tied as the most affected, with nearly 30% experiencing this situation. The second most common scam is having your card cloned after a purchase on a website: 14% of Brazilians, but here the age group between 18 and 24 years old fares better than any other: only 9% experienced this, compared to 17% of those over 60. In this particular scam, baby boomers are twice as likely to fall for it as younger people.
In addition to security issues, Akamai's research also revealed several other insights about Brazilians' online consumption habits. The vast majority – 74% – say they shop online at least once a month, with 6% doing so every day. Only 2% said they never buy online. The most avid generation for shopping are millennials: between 30 and 39 years old, 84% shop at least once a month (the number is 74% among 18 to 24 years old, 80% among 25 to 29, and 58% for those over 60).
Another generational difference is the preference for domestic or foreign shopping websites. When it comes to electronics, younger people (18 to 24) prefer international marketplaces (33%) over domestic ones (30%), while those over 60 prefer domestic (33%) versus foreign (23%). Here, too, you can see the young people's greater confidence in new things, such as stores without a tradition in Brazil, comments Helder. Although generational conflicts always spark conversation, today's youth are not entirely different from those of the past. They are subject to human factors, including falling for scams, just like everyone else.
The full report, in e-book form, can be downloadedhere.
