1 in 7 Consumers Got Scammed in the Past Year – Bitdefender Consumer Cybersecurity Survey 2025

Bitdefender’s 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey reveals that 1 in 7 consumers worldwide fell victim to a scam in the past year.

Despite growing awareness of online risks, people continue to engage in digital behaviors that make them easy prey. From deepfake phone calls and fake shipping notices to social media impersonations, today’s scams are more convincing and more personal than ever.

Our latest findings expose how fraudsters are exploiting new technologies, social media habits, and emotional triggers to deceive victims across the generations. Below, we dive into what types of scams people encounter most, who’s most at risk, and how you can protect yourself in a world where digital deception is evolving faster than ever.

Have you fallen victim to a scam in the past 12 months?

Bitdefender’s 2025 survey of more than 7,000 consumers across the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia highlights a troubling paradox: people are clear about what they fear most (financial loss, scams, identity theft), but they are courting those exact threats with lax daily habits around cybersecurity.

The rise of AI-powered scams — deepfake audio, video, and super-realistic phishing — has made fraud harder to spot and easier to scale. Social media, once a place for sharing memories, has become the #1 scam delivery system.

Asked if they’d fallen victim to a scam in the past year, 14% (1 in 7) of the consumers surveyed said they did, while 4% stated they were not sure.

Source: Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey

The US leads in the number of consumers saying they were victims at 17% followed closely by the UK and Australia (16% each). Consumers surveyed in France (11%) were the least likely to say they were scammed.

The types of scams netizens said they encounter most are delivery/shipping/mail fraud (21%) and phishing for username and password/account takeover (19%). These are followed by marketing scams (9%), job/employment scams (8%), crypto investment scams (7%) and romance scams (5%).

Source: Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey

Youth are fueling scam risk by oversharing online

The financial impact is tangible. With estimates of over $1 trillion in scam-related losses per year globally, and an average scam loss of $545 per victim, that equates to over $534,000 lost among our survey participants alone.

And a new analysis from the Federal Trade Commission this year spotlights a disturbing surge in scams targeting older Americans, with retirees increasingly falling prey to fraudsters impersonating trusted businesses and government agencies to steal their life savings.

Yet our survey found that youngsters are twice as likely as older people to fall victim to a scam (20% vs 9.7%).

Source: Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey

The reason? Younger generations interact far more with social media – now the top attack avenue for scammers.

Source: Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey

As we note in our report:

Social media has overtaken email as the top scam delivery channel. Youth are fueling scam risk by oversharing online — primarily TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp, while Facebook and WhatsApp are dominant among older users, creating a broad attack surface across all age groups.

A quarter of scams happen over the phone

Scammers don’t target their victims only on social media. As our study shows, 25% of scams take place over the phone. Social media is still the enabler, however, with the crooks gleaning samples of voice and video from people’s shared clips to build their swindles.

Read: ‘Mom, I Crashed the Car!’: Scammers Clone Son’s Voice to Ask Parents for $15,000 Bailout

Read: Florida Woman Loses $15K to AI Voice Scam Mimicking Daughter in Distress

The FBI recently warned of a new phone and video scam targeting Chinese-speaking residents across the United States. The elaborate operation impersonates both US health insurance providers and Chinese law enforcement officers to extort money from victims under the guise of investigating fraudulent medical claims.

Read: FBI Warns of Chinese-Language Phone Scam Targeting US Residents

How to protect yourself from scams:

·      Limit your digital footprint: Be mindful of sharing personal videos and audio online, as they can be used for voice cloning

·      Stay vigilant: Always question unexpected calls that instill a sense of urgency. If you don’t recognize the number, hang up and call your loved ones directly.

·      Create a ‘family password’: Establish verbal security codes (passwords) with trusted friends and family members. When in doubt, ask them something only they would know to answer.

·      Don’t let FOMO (fear of missing out) take hold: If an offer sounds too good to be true, pause and think. Scammers thrive on urgency and hype.

·      Use a scam detection tool: If you're suspicious of a certain phone call, email or text, consider using Scamio, our clever chatbot designed specifically to combat socially-engineered attacks on your finances, security, and privacy.

·      Stay informed about the latest scams: Regularly educate yourself on emerging threats and teach your family and colleagues to do the same. Read up on the cyber news to know what scammers exploit as technology constantly evolves.

Download the complimentary Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey for an in-depth look at today’s threat landscape — and learn what you can do to stay one step ahead.

You may also want to read:

Lost iPhone? Watch Out for this Phishing Trap

UK Cracks Down on Scammers Spoofing Your Phone Number

Outwit the Swindlers: How to Spot Sophisticated Scams Online