Gen Zers are so disillusioned with the economy that many think it’s okay to commit fraud

[How Sway?]

Each quarter, my company Sift produces an index report to better understand the latest online fraud trends, including how businesses and consumers are affected, emerging fraud tactics, and how fraud impacts consumer behavior when making purchases online. For the past two quarters, we’ve seen a surprising generational divide emerge: Gen Z—born between 1997 and 2012—expresses more willingness than any other generation to commit digital fraud.

In Q4 2023, 42% of Gen Zers admitted a willingness to engage in first-party fraud, in which they dispute a purchase with their payment provider despite the purchase being legitimate. This was significantly higher than any other generation. The next highest was millennials, with only 22% admitting to engaging in first-party fraud. This quarter, we discovered that 33% of Gen Z respondents either know someone who has participated in payment fraud or have done so themselves. Again, these rates are much higher than those of other generations.

This data might seem sensational, but if we explore it more deeply, it’s very telling. Academics have a theory called the “fraud triangle,” which argues that people are more inclined to commit fraud if they have incentive, rationalization, and opportunity.

Gen Z is facing persistent and diverse financial challenges
Gen Z has a number of unfortunate economic factors to feel anxious about. A survey from Intuit found that 73% of Zoomers feel that the current economic environment has made it more challenging to save money. They’re struggling with increased housing costs, student loan debt, and rising prices on everyday purchases like groceries, all while wages have stagnated for workers across many income levels.

These factors snowball into a financially stressful situation that makes it more challenging to afford day-to-day necessities. Unsurprisingly, more economic anxiety can inspire people to look for tactics to stretch every dollar. For most, this behavior is innocuous: clipping coupons, switching from name-brand to generic items, or shopping secondhand. In fact, Gen Z is also the most likely to shop for secondhand items online, with 42% of this generation purchasing a resale item in the past year.

But facing the wrong set of circumstances, some people will turn to stolen payment methods or chargebacks to get more with less. In these situations, consumers may rationalize fraudulent behavior by convincing themselves that their actions are necessary or justified given the economic environment. They may view their actions as a temporary solution, or even as a moral gray area with few consequences to anyone.

Gen Zers are so disillusioned with the economy that they think it’s OK to commit fraud

A third of Gen Zers either know someone who has participated in payment fraud or have done so themselves.

fortune.com

 

[mastermind]

America's financial might runs on fraud and financial crimes backed by guns.

 

[Rice N Beans]

I don't necessarily condone this, but businesses will fraud the common man any chance they get. Young brehs are just paying it back more often.

 

[Regular_P]

The former president made his career off fraud.

 

[88m3]

The former president made his career off fraud.

Yup they'll be riding with Trump this year

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Moral rot tends to start at the top. And no, not just with Trump, the issue began earlier than that.

 

[88m3]

Moral rot tends to start at the top. And no, not just with Trump, the issue began earlier than that.

the apple?

 

[Geek Nasty]

They're not disillusioned, they see the shyt going on around them every day and the criminals never being prosecuted. ONE lowly guy went to jail for all the fraud commited that created the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. Trump rode fraud to the white house and prosecutors waited until the last possible minute to do shyt about it.

Wall Street runs on fraudulent financial instruments every day. The whole country is a suckers bet.