Consumer Reports

17% of consumers reported having a social media account taken over.

37% of Black Americans who encountered a scam reported losing money.

29% of consumers have a browser extension that blocks trackers (up from 25% in 2024).

33% of consumers have identity theft protection services (up from 28% in 2024).

Scams pretending to be a bank or credit card company was reported by 25% respondents.

Less than half (48%) of consumers regularly review their security settings at least once every six months.

65% of consumers use a unique password across their different accounts.

The youngest adult age group (18–29) experienced a 27 percentage-point increase in encountering text scams between 2024 and 2025 (reaching 40% in 2025).

Only 5% of MFA users use a physical security key, the most secure method of authentication.

Only 8% of consumers were "very confident" that their personal data is private and not distributed without their knowledge.

10% of the highest income group ($100,000 or more) lost money after encountering a scam, making them the least likely income group to lose money.

Nearly half of Americans (46%) reported having personally encountered a cyberattack or a digital scam attempt.

42% of Americans use a password manager that automatically creates and stores a very strong password for each account (up from 36% last year).

Phishing was the most common method, experienced by 39% of respondents.

16% of consumers were "not confident at all" that their personal data is private and not distributed without their knowledge.

94% of consumers avoid clicking links in texts from people they do not know.

Only 48% of Americans in May 2025 said they were at least somewhat confident that their personal data is private and not distributed without their knowledge, a drop from 53% in 2024.

80% of consumers set permissions for apps on their smartphone to block access to things like their camera, location, or contacts if they are not needed for the app to function.

93% of consumers avoid clicking links in emails from people they do not know.

Only 24% of consumers encrypt their hard drives

Scams pretending to be tech support was reported by 25% of respondents.

86% of consumers use a strong password to access their home WiFi network.

33% of Americans who use MFA said they use a passkey, which is a new digital security tool.

68% of consumers implement software updates as soon as they are available.

53% of consumers have software that prevents malware or viruses.

14% of consumers have software to encrypt files on their device (up from 10% in 2024).

Three out of four scam attempts (74%) began through email, on social media, in text messages, or through a messaging app.

Of those who encountered a digital scam or cyberattack, 19% lost money.

15% of white Americans who encountered a scam reported losing money.

Social Media was the starting point for 17% of scams (a decrease from 23% in 2024).

12% of consumers reported having an email account taken over.

29% of the lowest income group (Less than $30,000) lost money after encountering a scam.

Email was the starting point for 27% of scams.

Scams beginning over a text message or messaging app rose significantly to 30% in 2025, up from 20% in 2024.

81% of consumers use multifactor authentication (MFA) to log in to at least one online account.

86% of consumers require a password, PIN, or other method to unlock their smartphone.

Of those who use MFA, 83% use SMS or text-based authentication.

69% of consumers said they had never had an online account taken over by scammers.

Of all Americans, 9% lost money to a cyberattack or digital scam.