Talker Research surveyed 10,500 people from counties in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, and others, and it found that Americans were receiving more fraudulent and scam messages than any other country.
The research showed that the average U.S. citizen receives an average of nine calls, nine emails, and seven text messages every week, totaling about 100 scams they encounter every month.
Some of the biggest concerns dealing with fraud were passwords and payment details on social media (just over 50%). Others ranked financial fraud (46%) and personal data breaches (25%).
AI-driven phishing (39%) or personalized messages intended to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information, and fake apps (38%) that mimic legitimate services or vendors (but contain malware), are the top two most concerning “futuristic” methods.
This may be because respondents find themselves forgetting or misplacing a password (38%) more often than they use multi-factor authentication (30%).
AI-driven phishing (personalized AI messages written using data from social media or web history that are meant to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information) – 39%
Fake apps (apps mimicking legitimate services or vendors, but with malware) – 38%
Deepfake attacks (AI-generated video or audio mimicking someone you know, such as a celebrity, public figure, or CEO) – 32%
Voice cloning scams (using a friend or family member’s voice to create convincing calls) – 31%
Synthetic identity fraud (creating a new identity using a combination of both real and fake data) – 29%
AI-generated influencers and personalities (AI influencer and social media accounts, may ask for donations, merchandise, etc.) – 29%
Augmented Reality (AR) scams (fake or manipulated digital content within an AR environment; may involve overlaying fake offers, costs, etc.) – 21%
