A new report reveals the toll online scams are having on the economy and everyday Americans. According to Pew Research, 73 percent of U.S. adults have fallen victim to some sort of internet scam or attack.
Those scams include credit card fraud, purchasing counterfeit items or items that never arrived, and investing in fake opportunities.
Those attacks came with a big price tag. The financial impact of online scams and other internet crimes totaled $16.6 billion in losses in the U.S. in 2024 alone. More about that in a minute.
Pew reports, “Americans most commonly report that online hackers made fraudulent charges on their credit or debit card. About half of U.S. adults (48%) report this has happened to them.”
If it happens to you, you can always dispute the charges with your credit card company.
Americans broadly report that three other types of scams have hit them:
- 36% say they purchased an item online that never arrived or was counterfeit and it was not refunded.
- 29% say a personal online account was hacked, such as a social media, email or bank account.
- 24% say they got a scam email, text message or call that led them to give away personal information.
Many people are now being forced to decipher deceptions on a regular basis with 31% reporting daily scam phone calls, 28% reporting daily scam emails, and 20% saying they face scam text message every day. And 11% say they’ve been experiencing regular scam attempts via social media.
To combat the trend, some social media sites are taking extra measures to crack down on scammers. WhatsApp has just taken down 6.8 million accounts linked to criminal scam centers worldwide. Parent company Meta also announced new tools on WhatsApp to help users spot scams, including a safety overview and test alerts.
Meanwhile, it turns out the stereotypes about who’s getting scammed aren’t necessarily true – it’s not just happening to elderly adults. In fact, younger Americans are slightly more likely than seniors to say they have lost money because of an online scam or attack.
As the number of attacks grows, the financial impact on individuals is becoming more serious, too. Pew reports:
- 30% say it hurt their personal finances a great deal (11%) or a fair amount (19%).
- Another 27% said it hurt their finances to some extent.
- About four-in-ten said this caused little (31%) to no financial harm (11%).
As AI Scams Grow, Can You Decipher the Deceptions?
As CBN News has reported, the proliferation of cybercrime is costing the world trillions of dollars in losses annually, powered by artificial intelligence.
Global cybercrime is expected to cost more than $10 trillion this year alone. Scams and online criminal activity have exploded as AI-enabled crimes are already up 456% since last year.
With AI-powered scams getting harder to spot, even government officials have fallen victim. Scammers are constantly refining their old tricks with new AI tools to make their deceptions nearly flawless.
AI tools can now take any video of someone and turn it into a very realistic deepfake that says or does anything the creator programs it to do.
“I’ve never seen anything move faster in my lifetime than AI. Not the internet, not crypto, not anything else,” says former federal prosecutor Ari Redbord, the global head of policy at TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company.
How can you protect yourself from these scammers? Neal O’Farrell, CEO of DropVault, says if you receive a voice or video call from a friend or family member claiming to be in trouble and requesting money or personal information, you need to ask them questions. And choose a non-digital family code word in advance.
MORE Details About the Exploding AI Crime Wave and Ways to Protect Yourself
