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Cybersecurity

October 6, 2025

    

When it comes to fraud, a sense of insecurity and even inevitability, global survey shows

The survey about cybersecurity reveals some stark generational differences and growing anxiety over AI-generated scams.

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Vicki Hyman

Director,

Global Communications,

Mastercard

Seven of 10 people say that it’s harder to secure their information on digital platforms than it is to secure their own home, according to a new global survey conducted for Mastercard. It’s not just the degree of difficulty — remembering a host of passwords and juggling one-time passcodes vs. turning a key or arming an alarm. It’s the scale of the cyber threat: A thousand burglars aren’t trying to pick your lock every minute of the day.  

Last year, losses and damages from cyberattacks came to $9.5 trillion, making cybercrime the third-largest economy in the world — and growing, thanks to the widespread availability of AI tools to supercharge scams and accelerate attacks.

The risks of living in always-on world are sinking in, with 76% of survey respondents more concerned about cyber risks impacting their life than they were two years ago. Well over half say they think about cybersecurity and online safety at least weekly — even more than they think about their own job security.

The survey, conducted last month by the Harris Poll of 13,077 adults across 13 countries, also revealed that younger people are more likely to fall for online fraud, that people would feel too ashamed to report the crime, and, perhaps most worryingly, that nearly 60% say that fraud is so pervasive that being scammed is simply inevitable.

“If people feel more vulnerable in the virtual world than in their own homes, that signals that the trust in the technology that governs our lives is under threat – and there’s work to be done to achieve the full promise of the digital economy,” says Johan Gerber, the global head of Security Solutions at Mastercard. For example, 66% of consumers would stop shopping altogether at a retailer where they experienced transaction fraud, which would have outsize impact on small businesses, which have fewer resources to respond to threats and may struggle to regain customer confidence.  

“Trust can’t be an afterthought,” Gerber says. “It must be the foundation of our digital lives.”

Let’s dig deeper into some of the findings from the survey. 

70%

of global consumers agree that it is harder to secure their information on digital platforms than it is secure their physical home

80%

of global consumers have received a scam attempt in the last year

75%

of global consumers say they are more concerned about the impact of cybersecurity risks than they were two years ago

The younger they are, the harder they fall

Different generations perceive and respond to cyber threats differently, with 43% of Gen Z and 39% of millennials reporting they have engaged with scam attempts, as compared with only 22% of Gen X and 14% of boomers. Ironically, younger people said they were “very confident” in their ability to identify threats — one in five for Gen Z and millennials, vs. fewer than one in 10 for Gen X and boomers. When asked about what actions they take to protect themselves from fraud, Gen Z were less likely than older peers to check the sender before opening emails or to use security software and tools, while boomers were less likely to enable biometric authentication for their apps or digital accounts or to review and adjust privacy settings.  

 

The fear of scam shaming is real

Experts say fraud, particularly romance cons, are vastly underreported, because the betrayals are so deeply personal and friends, family and even law enforcement tend to blame the victim. That sense of stigma was borne out by the survey: 59% say they would feel ashamed if they fell victim to an online scam, and about half said they would be embarrassed to tell anyone if they experienced a fraudulent transaction. But good news: The fear may be overblown. A much smaller percentage — only 37% — said they would judge someone who experienced a fraudulent transaction.

 

Smarter tech means sharper threats

Anxiety over AI is widespread, from the potential for AI systems to be hacked and turned against its users to automated large-scale cyberattacks to AI-generated voice cloning for scam calls to deepfakes interfering in government and threatening national security. Nearly three-quarters agreed that AI will make it impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake online, and only 13% of respondents were “very confident” in their ability to identify AI-generated threats or scams.

There is a generational divide as well, with about half of Gen Z and millennials saying they were more trusting of AI than human-monitored security, as compared with 44% of Gen X and 31% of boomers. And Gen Z was the most optimistic that AI could make identity verification and fraud protections better in the next five years.

“An AI-powered economy can only usher greater growth and deeper connection if we work together to make trust and security inseparable from innovation,” Gerber said. “Organizations that weave trust — and security — into every layer of technology will be the ones that thrive. Only in this way can we create a digital future that is both resilient and limitless.”

In fighting cybercrime, humans need AI — and AI needs humans

Human judgment, shaped by experience, empathy and intuition, helps connect the dots that machines might miss.

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