The elderly only accounted for 17 percent of all victims

Oct 18, 2016 19:00 GMT  ·  By

Two-thirds of the people who answered a Microsoft survey said they encountered a tech support scam in the past year, either by accessing shady websites or by receiving cold calls from individuals who posed as tech support experts for various companies.

The same study also revealed that one in five people didn't recognize the scam and continued the conversation, which eventually led to situations where they accessed a malicious website, installed dangerous software on their PCs, gave the scammer access to their computer, or passed on personal or financial details to the scammer.

Microsoft says that one in ten persons admitted to losing money through one form or another to tech support scams in the past 12 months.

But this was not the most interesting finding of Microsoft's survey. For a long time, it has been believed that the older generation is more susceptible to fall for these tactics.

In fact, Microsoft has been one of the organizations setting up forums and meetings with members of the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) to educate the elderly about the dangers of tech support scams.

Apparently, this isn't as big an issue as Microsoft and others considered. The study revealed that over 50 percent of the people that fell for tech support scams in the past year were millennials, young people aged between 18 and 34.

People aged between 36 and 55 accounted for 34 percent of the victims, while the elderly accounted only for 17 percent, which is, ironically, the age category with the lowest statistic.

Microsoft survey main findings
Microsoft survey main findings