Feel like you’re constantly deleting, declining and blocking scam messages? It’s not just you being slammed with them, it’s happening to people across the country every single day. A new survey from “U.S. News & World Report” reveals just how often these unwanted communications are happening and how much people have lost to scams.
According to the nationwide poll of 1,252 adults, almost half (46%) are being contacted by potential scammers on a daily basis. More than three-quarters (77%) say they get communications they suspect are scams at least once a week, and an unlucky 18% say they’re hit with suspicious calls, texts or emails multiple times a day.
- Nearly a quarter (23%) admit they’ve lost money to a financial scam during the last three years and another two in five know someone who lost money to fraud in the last year.
- The average amount lost was $1,917, and only 36% actually got the money back.
- Many people are trying to stay safe by being proactive, including 77% who say they’ve changed their online behavior or financial habits to protect themselves from scams.
- Now they’re more cautious about giving personal information over the phone, in text or email, and they’re also more likely to delete or ignore messages from senders they don’t know.
- While 76% say they’re confident they can identify scams, scammers are getting better and they’re using AI and other advanced tools to make messages look like they’re from a trusted source.
- About 79% say AI is making scams harder to spot and two-thirds (67%) think AI will put their financial health at risk.
Source: U.S. News & World Report