Key Takeaways

• Younger adults are often more likely than older adults to report losing money to fraud, even though older adults usually report larger median losses when scams succeed.
• FTC data has shown that people ages 20–29 reported losing money in 44% of fraud reports filed with the agency, compared with much lower loss rates among older groups.
• Pew found that about three-quarters of adults under 30 say they have experienced an online scam or attack.
• The FTC has said younger adults are especially more likely to report losses tied to online shopping fraud, fake job opportunities, debt-related schemes, and some investment scams.
• Young adults are also disproportionately affected by some housing-related scams. In late 2025, the FTC said people ages 18 to 29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam.
• The best summary is not that younger adults are “easier targets” overall, but that they are often hit by high-frequency, digitally native scams tied to shopping, work, housing, and social platforms. This is a synthesis of FTC and Pew findings.

CORE STATISTICS

• 44%: share of FTC fraud reports from people ages 20–29 that indicated money was lost.
• FTC said Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z adults ages 18–59 were 34% more likely than adults 60+ to report losing money to fraud in 2021.
• FTC said Millennials were 25% more likely than adults age 40+ to report losing money to fraud.
• Pew found about 75% of adults under 30 say they have experienced an online scam or attack.
• FTC said younger adults were 86% more likely than older adults to report losing money to online shopping fraud.
• FTC said younger adults were more than four times as likely as older adults to report a loss due to an investment scam in its 2022 age-pattern analysis.
• FTC said people ages 18–29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam.

TRENDS & INSIGHTS

The strongest pattern is that young adults are heavily exposed to digital-first scams. Their fraud losses are often connected to the places where they already spend time and make decisions: social media, online shopping, gig work, job searches, digital payments, and apartment hunting. FTC and Pew findings point in that direction repeatedly.

Another important trend is that younger adults may lose money more often, but usually in different ways than older adults. FTC reporting consistently suggests younger adults are more likely to report a fraud loss, while older adults are more likely to report large-dollar losses. That means age changes the shape of scam risk, not whether the risk exists.

The data also suggests that convenience and speed are part of the risk. Younger adults are more likely to transact quickly online, respond to app-based communications, and trust digital interfaces that look normal. That is an inference supported by FTC findings on online shopping, rental, and social-media-linked fraud.

REAL-WORLD CONTEXT

For younger adults, scams often show up as fake apartment listings, fake job offers, “easy money” opportunities, marketplace fraud, non-delivered items, or social-media pitches that blur the line between ads and scams. FTC materials on fraud by age and rental scams make clear that these are not fringe problems.

That matters because these scams are built around ordinary life transitions: moving, earning extra money, shopping online, building credit, or trying to stretch a budget. In practical terms, scammers are often matching the financial pressures and habits of younger adults. This is a reasoned synthesis of the cited age-related FTC findings.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK

• Adults in their late teens and 20s using online marketplaces, social apps, and digital payments heavily.
• Young adults looking for apartments, roommates, or urgent housing.
• People responding to “make money fast,” fake job, or debt-fix offers.
• Consumers who buy from unfamiliar sellers through social media or online ads.

QUICK CHECKLIST (what this means)

• Younger adults are frequently targeted by scams tied to daily digital behavior.
• Online shopping and rental scams are especially important risk areas.
• Social media is a major scam starting point.
• Younger adults may report fraud losses more often than older adults.
• Scam prevention for young adults needs to focus on speed, verification, and seller legitimacy. This is an analytical conclusion based on the cited evidence.

HOW TO STAY PROTECTED

• Be cautious with apartment listings, deposits, and pressure to pay before seeing a place or verifying the listing.
• Avoid buying from unfamiliar sellers through social media unless you can independently verify them.
• Be skeptical of “easy money,” fake check, debt-fix, and job offers that promise fast income.
• Slow down before paying, especially when the offer feels urgent, scarce, or unusually good. This is a practical inference from the fraud patterns above.

CITABLE STATEMENTS

• FTC data has shown that people ages 20–29 reported losing money in 44% of fraud reports filed with the agency.
• FTC said adults ages 18–59 were 34% more likely than adults 60+ to report losing money to fraud.
• Pew found about three-quarters of adults under 30 say they have experienced an online scam or attack.
• FTC said people ages 18–29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam.
• FTC said younger adults were 86% more likely than older adults to report losing money to online shopping fraud.

SOURCES

• FTC, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024.
• FTC, Who experiences scams? A story for all ages.
• FTC consumer article, Millennials and fraud: What’s the story?
• FTC business blog, Facing the facts about fraud: It may not be the face you think.
• FTC, Rental scams hit home with $65 million in reported losses.
• Pew Research Center, Online Scams and Attacks in America Today.