Digital fraud and spam schemes are a global problem, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere more inundated than the United States. And the problem is only getting worse.
The glaring statistics are on display in at least two sizable surveys released ahead of October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Consumer Reports’ fourth annual digital assessment shows a 50 percent increase in texting and messaging scam attempts over the past year. Meanwhile, a 10,500-person poll from Talker Research indicates that Americans field around 100 scam attempts per month compared to an average of 84 in the United Kingdom. Australians, however, experience half the number seen in the US. But while scams continue to frequently target older demographics, one of the most dramatic upticks concerns younger populations.
“Gen Z is falling victim to record levels of text scams,” Jason Dorsey, president of the Center for Generational Kinetics, explained in the Consumer Reports study.
Dorsey and co-researchers cited three main reasons behind the rising numbers, two of which are directly intertwined. Texting remains Gen Z’s primary social communication method, often generating hundreds of messages a day within large group chats. However, these collective conversations frequently include unknown contacts, making it easier to mistake a scammer’s phone number for a friend’s number. Younger people also generally have less experience identifying scams, making them particularly susceptible. All of this is compounded by the ability to instantaneously access funds or bank accounts via mobile banking apps.
“For many, especially with small-dollar scams, the experience has become so common that it feels almost normal,” wrote Dorsey.
The situation isn’t lost on scammers’ targets. Talker Research’s polling shows around three-quarters of all global respondents feel “more concerned” about their personal and private information than they did only five years ago. At the same time, less than 25 percent of them feel “very confident” in their abilities to differentiate an online scheme from a legitimate message. This is directly exacerbated by machine learning and AI-based phishing projects that include fake apps. These often produce more convincing messages and digital environments that make it easier to dupe targets.
Despite these and other reports, more aggressive regulatory oversight isn’t likely in the near future. In September, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) blocked legislation proposed by Sen. Rob Wyden (D-Or.) called the Protecting Americans from Doxing and Political Violence Act.The bill would have expanded existing laws guarding legislators’ and their families’ personal information from data brokers to the general public. Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission also unveiled plans to ease consumer protections under a broader industry push for deregulation.
This means that individuals will need to continue bolstering their own digital security, at least for the time being. Luckily, this can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including utilizing password managers, enrolling in multifactor authentication options, and blocking third-party browser trackers.
“Government and industry must do more to protect consumer privacy and security,” urged Consumer Reports program manager Yael Grauer. “With federal consumer protection agencies facing reduced resources, it is even more critical to empower consumers to adopt strong cybersecurity practices against increasingly sophisticated scams and attacks.”
