Think Scammers Target Only Older Adults? 4 Money Scams Young Adults Fall For
Scammers will target anyone whom they believe can fall for their schemes and some of them have been setting their sights on young adults.
Many of these bad actors follow the same script and strategies when scamming people, but knowing their tricks will make you less vulnerable.
Avoiding these four scams can help you preserve your finances.
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Employment Scams
The job market has been competitive for college graduates, as reported by The Washington Post. Many of them submit applications every day, hoping to get an offer and some scammers are using this to their advantage.
Fake job offers have cropped up on social media, especially on Indeed and LinkedIn. These job offers typically ask for upfront fees and personal information. The BBB’s Institute for Marketplace Trust report found that employment scams made up 30% of reported scams submitted by 18-24 year olds.
Fake checks were involved in 43% of these scams. Scammers present the check as a way to cover the cost of training, which a victim must pay for in advance by transferring cash to a fraudulent vendor. Upon realizing the check is illegitimate, the victim has no way to reclaim the transferred money.
Some scammers also ask victims to receive and reship products, sometimes illegally, as part of fake job offers. You can find employment scams anywhere, but they show up the most often on Indeed, LinkedIn and Telegram.
Investment Scams
The promise of high returns is a scam that is as old as time. People across all age brackets fall for this scam, including young adults. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) listed it as a top scam that has resulted in a median loss of over $9,000. The FTC also found that 79% of people who reported an investment-related scam lost money.
Cryptocurrencies are more likely to be involved in these scams than stocks. That’s because it is much harder to reclaim crypto sent to a fraudster than if you transferred cash or stocks. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies means that you cannot freeze an account due to suspicious activity.
The "pig butchering" scam is one strategy fraudsters use when promising high returns. These scammers build trust with victims over time and then present fraudulent crypto platforms. In some cases, it’s a crypto influencer pumping an altcoin, but it can also be someone who finds you on a dating app, brings up crypto trading and eventually asks for money to capitalize on a “trading opportunity.” One Redditor recently posted about their experience with pig butchering, sharing their learned lessons.
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Phishing Scams
Phishing was listed as one of the top 10 scams of 2025 by Fraud.org. It involves scammers pretending to be trustworthy institutions to steal personal information. These emails may ask you to log into your Amazon account to verify an order, reset your PayPal password or perform an action in your my Social Security account to preserve your benefits.
Phishing scams account for approximately 33% of all scams reported. It’s a universal risk across age groups. It’s always good to check the sender’s email before clicking any link. Furthermore, you should be wary if the email has urgency tied to it. If you get an email from Social Security saying you must perform an action within 48 hours or have your benefits suspended, it is probably a phishing email.
Online Shopping Scams
Online shopping scams may cause people to feel smart initially. These scams start when someone finds a deal for cheap electronics, sneakers, concert tickets or a similar product. People regularly search for deals, so they may tout this find to their intelligence, but it’s too good to be true.
Scammers may require payment via Venmo, Cash App or crypto, which makes it harder to receive funds back when the scam is exposed. Some fraudsters send a counterfeit item, while others send nothing at all.
The BBB’s report pinpointed online shopping scams as the second riskiest scam for young adults. The report also found that more than 80% of people who reported this scam ended up losing money.
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This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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