Report by Malwarebytes
Face Value: How AI is reshaping trust, identity, and scams
Key Findings
One in ten adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland have had explicit AI images made of them without consent.
81% of parents in the surveyed countries fear their child's likeness will be stolen.
19% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland have turned off voicemail recordings to prevent voice cloning.
19% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland have experienced AI-driven identity harm, rising to 30% among Gen Z.
13% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland have created a family codeword to guard against likeness theft.
One in three daily AI users in the surveyed countries say it is okay to generate explicit images of someone without their consent.
85% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland say it is hard to tell a scam apart from the real thing, up from 66% in 2025.
88% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland say it is becoming harder to tell what online content is genuinely human or real.
Exposure to AI fraud or scams is 67% for Gen Z, 51% for Millennials, 46% for Gen X, and 30% for Boomers and older.
81% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland fear someone stealing their family's likeness.
67% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland worry about voice cloning.
74% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland are concerned about experiencing a deepfake or other AI-generated scam.
32% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland say it is okay to use AI to imitate someone's voice or appearance for personal use.
18% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland say it is okay to use AI to generate explicit images of someone they do not know.
50% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland have experienced some form of AI fraud or scam.
84% of adults aged 18+ in the United States, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland say convincing video evidence no longer feels like proof.
Exposure to AI fraud or scams is 56% in the United States, 48% in the UK, and 47% in the DACH region.