As artificial intelligence is rapidly adopted across various professional industries, it is simultaneously being utilized by scammers for illicit gain. According to a new survey conducted by Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance, approximately 6% of U.S. adults, or roughly 15 million individuals, were defrauded out of money last year. Among these victims, 12% reported that their specific scams involved the use of AI or deepfake technologies.
Stop Scams Alliance founder and CEO Ken Westbrook emphasized the scale of the issue during an interview, noting that organized criminal groups are attacking the public at a massive level. The total financial loss reached $68 billion last year, which Westbrook noted is comparable to the annual revenues of Delta Airlines or a major Fortune 500 company. The survey, which reached 5,173 U.S. adult respondents between January and February, relied on self-reported data and highlighted that the deployment of AI is often difficult for the average victim to detect.
These findings align with broader warnings from global authorities. In March, Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza cautioned that the world is witnessing the “industrialization of fraud” enabled by low-cost AI tools and increased international criminal collaboration. Furthermore, companies like OpenAI have periodically released reports documenting the misuse of their platforms, including an instance in February where bad actors targeted previous victims with fake advertisements for “scam recovery” services.
The Gallup and Stop Scams Alliance survey provides a broader view of the scam landscape than the Federal Trade Commission’s data, which only counts formal complaints. The survey results indicate that total American losses were nearly four times higher than those officially reported to the FTC. Westbrook explained that this $52 billion data gap exists partly because the U.S. lacks a system for regular, comprehensive reporting on scam prevalence. This data discrepancy is a primary reason why sufficient resources are not currently being devoted to solving the problem, as the full scale of the issue has not been properly measured.
The research also revealed that 1 in 4 Americans have been personally scammed at least once during their adult lives. The financial consequences are severe, with 21% of victims experiencing significant financial hardship and 46% reporting moderate hardship. Additionally, the data indicated that higher scam rates are prevalent among lower-income adults, people of color, and individuals without a bachelor’s degree. Seventy-five percent of respondents noted that being scammed resulted in negative impacts on their mental health and general well-being.
Scammers often use sophisticated research and impersonation techniques. One respondent described being contacted after posting about two missing cats online. The scammers posed as the sheriff’s department and transferred her to a fake emergency vet clinic, where they demanded approximately $780 for supposed surgery. The victim stated it sounded 100% legitimate, and it was only after her husband contacted the actual City Police Department that they realized they were being scammed.
Westbrook noted that the emotional impact can be even more injurious than the financial loss, recalling how his own mother was targeted in the spring of 2023. After searching for her sister’s obituary, she clicked a fraudulent website and was eventually robbed of her life savings. According to the report, 40% of victims encountered fraudulent websites, while phone, text, and email methods were each involved in nearly half of all incidents. About 50% of scams involved using two or more methods, and in 49% of cases, victims were deceived into personally sending money, with Zelle and PayPal being the most common payment platforms.
