Gen Z Loses Money to Online Scams at Higher Rates

More than one in three Gen Z adults lost money to an online scam in the past year, according to new research published this week by McAfee, and the generation that grew up online is now falling for several con types more often than older Americans. Online Scams at Higher Rates are no longer a story about careless clicking: they are a story about scams that fit so naturally into daily digital life that even digital natives do not see them coming.

The findings, drawn from a nationally representative survey of five thousand adults in the United States combined with analysis of text-based scam activity, land in the middle of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. They paint a picture of a generation encountering AI-powered fakery at rates above the national average while navigating the parts of early adult life, from job hunting to shopping, that happen almost entirely online, as reported by ConsumerAffairs.

The five fakes fooling young adults

McAfee's researchers asked adults which kinds of online fakery they had run into over the past year, and Gen Z led the pack on five. Fake social media profiles topped the list: just over half of Gen Z adults encountered one, compared with about four in ten Americans overall. These are the copycat accounts and hijacked profiles of creators, brands, potential romantic partners and even people the target already knows, often used as a doorway to a suspicious link or a request for money.

AI-generated images presented as real came next, tripping up a similar share of Gen Z versus just under half of Americans overall. A fraudulent product listing can now show an item that never existed, and an investment pitch can arrive dressed in imagery that looks legitimate at first glance.

Two in five young adults said they encountered deepfake-style videos, versus about a third of Americans overall. Improvements in the technology mean the old visual tells are becoming less reliable, a point the company's threat researchers stress in the firm's write-up of the research.

More than a third of Gen Z ran into fake recruiters and job opportunities, compared with just over a quarter of Americans overall. And just over a quarter encountered fake celebrity endorsements, versus about a fifth of the wider population, the borrowed trust of a familiar face making an unfamiliar offer feel credible.

Where the money actually goes

Exposure is one thing; losing money is another. On financial losses, Online Scams at Higher Rates show up in three categories where Gen Z adults were more likely than Americans overall to report parting with cash. Package delivery scams hit a quarter of Gen Z adults versus fewer than one in five Americans overall, feeding off the constant stream of parcels a generation that shops online expects to receive.

Fake customer support scams caught nearly a quarter, versus eighteen percent nationally, while AI-generated impersonation scams took money from a fifth of young adults versus fifteen percent of Americans overall. As Abhishek Karnik, McAfee's head of threat research, put it: "Scams can work by fitting naturally into what someone is already doing online, making verification increasingly important before clicking a link, sending money or sharing sensitive information."

The job hunt deserves its own warning. Nearly two in three Gen Z adults say scam concerns have made them hesitate or avoid applying for a job online, compared with just over half of Americans overall. More than half have suspected a recruiter or job opportunity was fake, and about four in ten encountered an outright fake recruiter or job scam in the past year, versus about three in ten nationally. For young adults building careers through inboxes and job platforms, that uncertainty carries a real cost, one that a recent look at the wider security gap facing young people shows extends well beyond the job search.

Trust less, verify more

The broader numbers put Online Scams at Higher Rates inside a national shift: eighty-eight percent of Americans encountered at least one scam type in the past year, and nearly a third lost money. Almost three quarters now say they feel the need to double-check most things online before trusting them, and more than eight in ten say scam worries have changed something they do on the internet.

One grain of salt belongs here. McAfee sells security software, so its research doubles as a case for its own products, and vendor-sponsored studies deserve that framing when you read them. The methodology, a large national survey paired with the company's lab analysis, is standard industry practice, but it is not independent academic research.

Still, the practical advice holds regardless of the messenger. Karnik's team recommends verifying through a second channel, opening the company's official app or calling a trusted number rather than trusting the message in front of you. Slow down when urgency is manufactured, since scammers want a decision before you have time to investigate. And for job offers in particular, Karnik advises job seekers to "verify the role through the employer's official website and independently confirm that the recruiter works there." In a year when even major platforms face record privacy penalties, treating every unexpected message as guilty until proven innocent may be the most rational habit a young adult can build.