1 in 7 consumers fall victim to online scams
A new survey from Bitdefender, of more than 7,000 consumers worldwide, finds that 14 percent of respondents (one in seven) report falling victim to scams in the past year, with an additional four percent unsure.
Based on an average scam loss of $545, that equates to over $534,000 lost among survey participants alone. The US led in scam victims at 17 percent, followed by the UK (16 percent) and Australia (16 percent), while France had the lowest at 11 percent.
Artificial intelligence features high in people’s fears, the top concern is its use in sophisticated scams such as deepfakes (37 percent), followed by job loss (30 percent) and misinformation (29 percent). Regional concerns vary, UK respondents are most worried about AI replacing human jobs (39 percent), while Germany, Italy, and Spain rank misinformation as the second-highest threat after scams. Generationally, nearly half of those 55+ (46 percent) worry about AI scams compared to just over a third of Millennials (34 percent).
Social media is now the leading medium for successful scams at 34 percent, overtaking email (28 percent), phone calls (25 percent), text messages (24 percent), and online ads (21 percent). Again age differences are notable, respondents aged 25–34 were more than twice as likely as those 55+ to be scammed via social media (43 percent vs 20 percent).
“These findings highlight the growing importance of cybersecurity awareness as attacks on consumers become more frequent and sophisticated in the age of AI,” says Ciprian Istrate, senior vice president of operations at Bitdefender Consumer Solutions Group. “Bitdefender has long pioneered the use of ‘good’ AI to combat cybercrime, but threat actors are now leveraging it to enhance their attacks. Strong passwords, mindful cookie management, and trusted security solutions can go a long way toward reducing risk. Cybercriminals are relentless, but awareness and the right tools empower consumers to defend themselves.”
Poor password practices continue to be a problem with 37 percent of respondents still writing down passwords, while 32 percent reuse the same password across multiple accounts. US (42.6 percent) and Italian (41.6 percent) respondents are most likely to write down passwords, while UK respondents are least likely (29.9 percent). Meanwhile, 27 percent use password managers, 16 percent rely on browser autofill, and 13.6 percent use Apple’s password autofill feature. Younger consumers (ages 16–34) are more likely than those 55+ to reuse passwords across three or more accounts (20 percent vs 14 percent), with higher rates of poor password hygiene among those who had been scammed (23 percent) compared to those who had not (16 percent).
You can get the full survey on the Bitdefender site.
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