Disadvantaged teens at greater risk of falling victim to email scams – study

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Disadvantaged teens are at greater risk of being victims of email scams than their peers, according to a study.

About one in seven (14%) 15-year-olds are at risk of responding to a phishing email – but that figure rises to a fifth among those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, according to an international study.

disadvantaged young people, who also have lower cognitive abilities, are Data from 38 countries are most at risk of falling prey to phishing emails.

Students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with low academic achievement need better education about the online risks they face, according to a university college. said a researcher from London (UCL).

The study data was based on more than 176,000 children who participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2018 – a OECD triennial international survey that measures what 15-year-old students know in reading, science and math.

As part of a questionnaire, students were asked how they would react to a made-up scenario in which a mobile phone company told them by email that they had won a smartphone. The sender asked them to click on a link and fill out a form with their data to access the phone,

More needs to be done to help young people navigate what is becoming an increasingly complex and dangerous online world

Professor John Jerrim, study author

Possible answers included by replying to the email asking for more details, verifying the contact details of the sender's email address and clicking on the link to fill out the form as soon as possible.

The results – published in the British Journal of Educational Studies – found that teenagers from lower socio-economic backgrounds were significantly more likely to say they would click on the link.

The largest gap was based on cognitive skills, with a quarter of low performers saying they thought clicking the link was an appropriate response, compared to 5% of those in high school. top quintile of reading scores.

Results showed that Japanese teenagers were the least likely to respond to unsolicited emails (4%). The figure for the UK was 9%.

Teenagers from Mexico (30%) and Chile (27%) were most at risk.

Author study, Professor John Jerrim, of the U...