Despite COVID-19 turbulence.
There has been an overall fall in scam encounters – three out of five consumers (59 per cent) were found to have been targeted by a tech support scammer in the last 12 months, a drop from 64 per cent in 2018. One out of six consumers (16 per cent) were then tricked into continuing with the scam, a three-point decrease from 2018.
In Microsoft’s 2021 Global Tech Support Scam Research, of those surveyed, Gen Zers (aged 18-23) and Millennials (aged 24-37) were found to have continued interactions most when targeted with the scams – 23 per cent for both age groups.
Across the Asia Pacific (APAC) countries surveyed, results were diverse:
- Consumers in India were three times more likely to continue with a scam interaction (49 per cent) than the global average (16 per cent)
- Consumers in Japan performed best globally, with only 5 per cent of those surveyed proceeding to interact with a scammer
- Australia (19 per cent) and Singapore (14 per cent) saw rates on-par with the rest of the world
The commissioned YouGov surveyed people in 16 countries, including four APAC markets – Australia, India, Japan, and Singapore. This is a follow-up to similar surveys that Microsoft fielded in 2018 and 2016.
The global fall in scam exposure rates between 2018 to 2021 was largely driven by a reduction in scams involving pop-ups (-8 per cent) as well as those with redirects to websites (-7 per cent). This trend was also reflected in the region, with Japan recording the greatest decrease among the APAC markets surveyed, at a 12-point drop for encounters relating to pop-ups and a five-point drop for website scams across the same period. Australia, India, and Singapore also saw decreases of four, five and one points around pop-ups respectively and two, one and three points around website scams, respectively.
On a global level, there was a one-point increase in consumers losing money during the scam interaction in 2021 (7 per cent) as compared with 2018 (6 per cent). This trend was also seen in the APAC markets with Japan (3 per cent) and Singapore (5 per cent) recording a one-point increase from 2018 to 2021; Australia (9 per cent) recorded a three-point increase during the same period. More significantly, about a third of consumers in India (31 per cent) who continued with such scams lost money as a result, an increase of 17 points from 2018 (14 per cent).
Millennials, Gen Zers, and males most likely to fall victim to scams
Microsoft is seeing younger people fall prey to tech support scams more often, particularly the Gen Zers (aged 18-23) and Millennials (aged 24-37). Globally, one out of 10 Millennials and one out of 10 Gen Zers that encountered a scam fell for it and lost money. This is correlated to the higher engagement that younger people have with riskier online activities, such as using torrent sites (16 per cent for Gen Z; 15 per cent for Millennials) and sharing email addresses in exchange for content (30 per cent for Gen Z; 28 per cent for Millennials).
Males were also identified to be the hardest hit and most likely to have lost money because of such scams. 20 per cent of males globally continued with such tech support scams in 2021, with half of them losing money as a result. In contrast, 13 per cent of females globally continued with such tech support scams, with about one in three losing money in the interaction.
Computer problems the most common issue during scam interactions
Among those who continued with a scam, the most common issue experienced globally during the interaction was computer problems (30 per cent), followed by compromised passwords (23 per cent), and fraudulent use of credit/debit/store cards (18 per cent).
Following a computer-related scam, 77 per cent in Australia and 82 per cent in India surveyed spent time checking and repairing their computer, slightly higher than the global average of 76 per cent in 2021. It is crucial to carry out checks, as some scammers are known to install malware on computers, allowing them to maintain remote access to people’s computers long after the victims believed the interaction was terminated.
