BBB warns 18-24 age group about new employment scams

Sandy Harjo-Livingston and Kristine Uyeno

13 hours ago

File photo showing a stack of money. (Getty Images)

HONOLULU (KHON2) A new report released by the Better Business Bureau shows that 18-24-year-olds have reported losing more money to fraud than older age groups.

And fake jobs are still the riskiest.

Dale Dixon, BBB’s Chief Innovation Officer, joins KHON2 with more.

About 43 percent of employment scams reported in this age group included mention of fake check fraud. Many people reported being told to deposit checks into their accounts and then transfer the funds to a vendor to pay for training or office equipment.

By the time they realized the check was bad, the money was gone. We need to make sure young people understand that checks take time to clear and to make sure they are accurate.

About 19% of employment scams in this age group mentioned schemes involving checking or resending packages.

Online shopping fraud accounted for 29.1% of all reports submitted by 18-24-year-olds, with 81.4% reporting monetary loss.

People aged 18-24 were more likely than other age groups to report that they had been targeted by text or online messages. The contact methods with the highest probability of monetary loss (vulnerability) included the website and social media.

The contact methods that had the highest average dollar loss were phone call, text message, and in-person contact. This group reported higher rates of scams targeting them on Instagram and X (Twitter) than other age groups.

Moms, dads, grandparents, if you have someone you love in this age group, there’s a good chance they’re looking for a job and are in all the places we’ve listed. You receive text messages and browse social media. They are susceptible. And undefeated.

The most important message: know who you can trust and why you can trust them. That’s why we always showed people ours website research business.

Quick stop websiteand you’ll quickly discover that any company sending checks without reason, asking you to resend packages, or send money through a payment app outside of your familiar shopping platform will only end up stealing your money.

So stay tuned!