AI-Fueled Fraud Hits 9 in 10 Americans as Cyber Scams Surge, Consumer Reports Study Reveals

AI-Fueled Fraud Reaches Near-Universal Scale

AI-fueled fraud has reached alarming levels across the United States, with 9 in 10 Americans targeted by scams according to a new Consumer Reports study conducted with Aspen Digital and the Global Cyber Alliance1

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. The research, which surveyed nearly 5,000 U.S. adults in March and April, found that 90% had encountered digital scams or cyberattacks, with 17% reporting actual financial losses to digital security breaches2

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. Consumer Reports CEO Phil Radford emphasized the severity: "That's not a statistic, that's almost everyone we serve. AI is making fraud faster, cheaper and more personal, and no one can outsmart that alone"1

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Consumer Confidence in Data Privacy Plummets

The decline in consumer confidence regarding data privacy has accelerated dramatically. The Consumer Reports study revealed that only 32% of Americans now feel confident their sensitive information, including Social Security numbers and financial data, remains private—a sharp drop from 48% in 20251

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. Even more concerning, 29% of U.S. adults report having no confidence at all in personal data privacy, nearly double the 16% recorded in the 2025 survey1

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. This erosion of trust comes as consumers face mounting evidence of widespread digital breaches and increasingly sophisticated cyber scams.

How AI Makes Fraud Faster and Cheaper

AI is making fraud faster and cheaper by lowering the barrier to carrying out scams that would previously have been costly or laborious2

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. Stacey Higginbotham, a Consumer Reports cybersecurity fellow, explained that "AI allows scammers to make better use of the personal data they have on consumers, and lowers the cost of reaching even more people with those personalized messages"2

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. The technology enables criminals to quickly synthesize information from data breaches and create personalized scams at scale1

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. Currently, one in every five scams includes some kind of customization, a share expected to grow rapidly2

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. Colin Ferris, a cybersecurity expert at Silverfort, noted that "prior to AI, the level of effort required to personalize something was too great. You couldn't personalize 50 phishing messages; it was too much work"2

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Deepfake-Enabled Phishing Raises the Stakes

Deepfake-enabled phishing represents a new frontier in digital scams or cyberattacks. Even tech-savvy individuals who previously could spot phishing emails by their spelling errors and suspicious links now face much more sophisticated, AI-enabled scams using deepfake technology2

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. Armed with personal information obtained in security breaches, such as physical addresses, scammers can pose convincingly as financial institutions and offer tempting mortgage rates or other personalized offers2

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. Higginbotham warned that "people have stereotypes about who gets scammed, but it is truly everyone now, and AI is just going to accelerate that. I don't think we've seen even the beginning with the number and quality of scams reaching people"2

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Multi-Factor Authentication and Password Best Practices Essential

Multi-factor authentication and password best practices have become essential defenses against the surge in cyber scams. The Consumer Reports study found that many Americans are taking protective measures, with 69% looking closely at texts and emails before clicking, 60% using multi-factor authentication, and 48% enabling automatic software updates1

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. Security measures that might once have seemed redundant are now necessary, according to cybersecurity experts2

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. Higginbotham emphasized that using different strong passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication remain the most important actions consumers can take1

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. The 9-second rule, promoted through the Take9 initiative, encourages people to pause for nine seconds before clicking, downloading or sharing a link—a simple low-tech habit to combat cyberattacks2

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Call for Government Action: SCAM Act and SAFE Platforms Act

The Consumer Reports study calls for government action through legislation like the SCAM Act and SAFE Platforms Act to address the growing threat. Higginbotham noted that while AI is a problem, legislators could address some challenges associated with AI-enabled scams by passing laws such as the federal SCAM Act or SAFE Platforms Act that would penalize scammers who abuse online platforms with their malicious tactics1

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. These proposed measures would hold social media platforms more accountable for scams on their sites3

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. Brian Cute, president and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance, emphasized that personal precautions alone "can't stop the abuse coming from upstream via insecure routing and maliciously registered domain names," adding that "closing those gaps takes industry, government and philanthropy working together"2

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. Konstanze Frischen, acting executive director of Aspen Digital, stated that "the status quo on frauds and scams prevention is clearly broken" and called for solutions spanning industry, government and civil society3

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