Consumer Reports

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

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).

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

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).

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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