According to a recent study by online identity verification service Social Catfish, being tech-savvy is clearly not enough to protect you from online scams. Over the past three years, the number of young people under 20 — the “Gen Z” who grew up on smartphones and the internet — reported being victims of online fraud surged 156%, the fastest growing among all age groups, followed by those over 60, with an increase of 112%.

Social Catfish President David McClellan (David McClellan) said, “This is worrying. We think the most internet-savvy generation is where the number of people being scammed is growing the fastest.”

Among those under 21, the number of people complaining to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cybercrime Complaint Center reached about 23,200 last year (9,000 in 2017), with losses of about 71 million US dollars (8.3 million US dollars in 2017).

McClellan said, “People in this age group are happy to disclose their lives online. So it makes it very easy for them to trust others on the internet.”

However, although complaints from the younger generation in the US are growing the fastest, overall, more elderly people have become victims. According to the study, there were about 105,300 online fraud complaints among people aged 60 and above last year, causing a total loss of 966 million US dollars.

Overall, victims of all ages lost a total of $4.2 billion in 2020, according to an FBI report that is part of the Social Catfish study.