New findings from The Communications Consumer Panel found fraud or ‘scams’ have cost the UK £190 billion a year. Most alarmingly from the perspective of young rural scots, information within the report, published in December 2020, showed that younger age groups (aged 16 to 34) were the most susceptible to being scammed and accounted for more than half of all scams experienced (52%). One in five (20%) of those aged 16 to 34 had been scammed in the past two years.
In light of these findings Jenny Campbell, Regional Manager for the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC), has written a guest blog to warn Scottish farmers and crofters to be vigilant to cyber threats and to raise awareness of the organisations out there offering support.
She writes: “The evidence of how susceptible younger age groups are to scams is stark. Those subject to scams were convinced that these criminals seemed legitimate and that their style of communication was trustworthy and researched. Those with low confidence in technology were being exploited with designs, images, logos and uniqueness of a fake business’s product looking ‘the real deal’, proving captivating and alluring.”
“From qualitative interviews conducted by the Consumer Panel, participants spoke of their embarrassment at being caught out and their subsequent loss of self-belief. Keeping safe online is everybody’s business. Nobody should be too embarrassed to talk to friends or family if they’ve been tricked by professional fraudsters.”
Jenny concludes that now is the time for young people in Scotland, particularly those working or living in rural Scotland, to recognise that this is an issue that is not confined to older or less digitally skilled people: “Young Scots in agriculture need a helping hand from the organisations that surround them to understand how to look after their money and which payment methods are more secure than others.”
Read the full blog at: Young Scottish Farmers and Crofters Targeted by Cyber Criminals – Jenny Campbell Guest Blog (nfus.org.uk)
