A report from the Pew Research Center reveals that 93% of young adults, from ages 18 to 29, actively use the internet. Young adults use the internet in more ways than any other age group; social media, work, school, etc. The internet is an integral part of the average young adult’s day-to-day life. If you fall into this category, there are several cybercrime risks you may be exposed to.

Let’s discuss a few of these risks and how to recover from them:

Student Scams

College is a large financial undertaking, and cybercriminals use this to their advantage. Scammers may offer you “student loan forgiveness” in an attempt to access your personal information and steal your money. These fraudsters often use urgent language like, “Act now!” or “This offer won’t last!”.

Incoming students are also affected by cybercrime. Scammers create fake college degree programs to trick prospective students into giving away personal information. These fraudulent degrees come from “diploma mills”.

Pyramid Schemes

You may notice friends and or old colleagues on social media messaging you about a “business opportunity”. If the main goal and structure of the business is to bring in new recruits, it’s likely a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is a system where participants make their money by recruiting more participants. The cash-flow of a pyramid scheme is generated by later recruits investing money to participate, rather than actual sales. Pyramid schemes are illegal in the United States.

Privacy Breach

With the rise of social media, our lives are becoming less and less private every day. By sharing personal information like your birthday, your address, or the names of places you frequent; you are exposed to risks of cyberstalking/harassment and identity theft. There is a caveat to cyber-harassment called “sextortion”; where the perpetrator will use private photos of you as a form of extortion.

This blog was written by Taryn Porter, a past CSN employee.