THE WEEKND MAY not be playing in Croke Park until next summer, but we already know demand for tickets will be off the charts.

That’s why you can save yourself a lot of hassle and online queueing. All you need to do to be in with a chance to win two tickets to see The Weeknd play in Dublin next August is email your name, phone number, and bank details to the email address underneath the below image.

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HANG ON A MINUTE.

If you were considering doing that, and we sincerely hope you were not, then you need to think much more carefully about the kind of offers, ads and promotions that you see online, especially when they are too good to be true. This is how scams are often presented. In this case, we don’t have tickets to give away, but wanted to draw your attention to a common scam that is doing the rounds. And give you the knowledge to avoid being scammed.

Most people under the age of 35 have had the experience of telling a parent or an older relative that something they’ve seen online is actually a scam.

However, just because we understand some of the telltale signs of a scam doesn’t mean we’re familiar with all of them, and scams are becoming harder to identify with each passing month as scammers hone their craft and develop new techniques for committing financial fraud. That’s why it’s so important to always thoroughly check everything you see online, even if you’re confident in your own abilities to spot a scammer. Even when it comes to The Weeknd concert tickets.

According to new data gathered by Bank of Ireland through their National Fraud Survey, most young people are very confident in their own abilities to detect online scams, with 83% backing themselves to identify fraud on social media (this figure jumps to 91% for men between 18-34). This level of overconfidence is what can lead to a lack of vigilance, which is the real danger when it comes to being tricked by fake ads online.

Young people are also significantly less concerned about fraud and scams than the average person. A recent National Fraud Survey conducted by Bank of Ireland revealed that 83% of the population rate fraud as a big problem in Irish society, compared with only 57% of young people. 

Some of the most dangerous sources of online scams are ads on social media. With recent, high-profile festival ticket scams still in the news, it must be borne in mind that there are plenty of Gen Z and young Millennials who are taken in by scam ads — especially when the scammer is offering something that we really want. 

Those in the 18-34 cohort spend a huge amount of their time absorbing information from social media, spending an average of 2-3 hours on social media apps every single day. 

Spending that much time each day on social media means it’s inevitable that you’ll be exposed to more than your fair share of scam ads — whether it be for festival tickets or bogus investment opportunities, such as the series of ‘pump and dump’ investment fraud scams that are currently spreading fast, mainly through WhatsApp.

The results of the survey show that of those who reported seeing fraudulent content on social media platforms, 86% encountered this content on Meta platforms, which include WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. 

Due to the way that algorithms on apps like Instagram work, the more fake or scam ads/posts that you engage with, the more you’re likely to see — which is exactly why it’s so important to be able to use your judgment to figure out when something doesn’t seem right. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 69% of social media users don’t trust social media companies to protect users from fraud. 

This means social media users, for now, must take matters into their own hands and develop the tools themselves to make sure they don’t fall foul of social media scammers. These online scams are often successful, with one-in-six survey respondents saying they had been fooled by a fake ad on social media. 

Bank of Ireland encourages everyone to employ the ‘Stop. Think. Check.’ method when it comes to suspicious ads on social media. 

• Stop: Don’t click on links in pop-up ads on social media
• Think: Does this offer seem too good to be true?
• Check: Always use an official, trusted website to make a purchase. In relation to investments, always talk with a trusted financial advisor.

Don’t be complacent when spending your money online, even if you’re confident in your ability to identify scam ads. Scammers are always changing and improving their strategies, so protect your money, and always Stop, Think, Check.