Scammers aren’t a popular bunch, and you likely have a long list of grievances you’d love to hurl in their direction if you ever met one face to face. That said, “you never call anymore” isn’t one of them. Oh, they call. And text. And email.
If you feel like you’re constantly swatting away scam messages, you’re not alone. Americans are getting bombarded by scammers, and a U.S. News survey reveals the sheer frequency of these unwanted communications. And while many Americans say they’re confident in their ability to detect scams, a majority also say they believe AI is making fraudulent communications harder to identify. As one respondent says, “They’re getting trickier.”
U.S. News conducted a nationwide survey of 1,252 American adults via PureSpectrum between Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, 2026. We asked respondents how often they’re targeted by fraudsters, whether they’ve lost money and how they’ve altered their habits to combat financial scams. We also explored their opinions on who bears the most responsibility for preventing scams and whether they’re worried about the emergence of AI on their future financial health.
Here’s what we found:
— Nearly half of Americans surveyed (46%) say they receive communications they suspect are scams on a daily basis. More than three in four (77%) say suspected scammers target them at least once a week.
— Almost one-quarter (23%) of respondents say they’ve lost money to a financial scam within the past three years. Of those, the median amount lost to fraud was $250, and the average amount lost was $1,917. Just 36% of those who lost money to a scam say they recovered the funds.
— More than three in four surveyed (77%) say they’ve changed their online behavior or financial habits to protect themselves against scams. Among those changes, many say they’re more likely to ignore or delete communications from unknown senders, and others say they’ve become much more cautious about providing their personal information over the phone or via text or email.
— Two-thirds of respondents (67%) say they believe AI will put their financial health at risk. The vast majority of respondents (79%) say scams are becoming harder to identify as fraudsters use AI tools to make their schemes more sophisticated.
— Opinions are divided concerning who bears the most responsibility for preventing scams. Nearly two in five respondents (39%) say it’s up to individual consumers to protect themselves, while 32% put the chief responsibility on banks and financial institutions. About 30% say the government/law enforcement is the group that must step up first to tamp down on scammers.
‘I Get a Scam Text Nearly Every Day’
For many Americans, scam communications have become a routine part of the day. While 46% of those surveyed say fraudsters reach out to them daily, about 18% say they’re getting peppered with suspicious texts, emails or phone calls multiple times each day. The majority of those surveyed say they’re targeted by a scammer at least once a week.
“I get a scam text nearly every day,” says one respondent. “It’s made me cautious and less trusting of most texts if I don’t recognize a number.”
More than half of respondents (52%) say they immediately delete suspicious texts or hang up on questionable callers, while 19% say they simply ignore communications that appear to be from scammers. About 18% say they search online to determine whether the communication is valid.
Less than 5% of Americans surveyed say they engage with the message or phone call to gather additional information, which is a strategy that most fraud experts strongly advise against. For example, responding to a scammer’s text confirms that your number is real and can often result in your becoming a target for more unsolicited communications as criminals accelerate their efforts or sell your number to others.
Some Respondents Report Five-Figure Losses
There’s a reason scammers are relentless in their efforts. They ultimately pay off. Roughly $12.5 billion in fraud losses were reported in 2024, according to Federal Trade Commission data.
Our survey finds that nearly a quarter of respondents say they’ve lost money to a scam at least once in the past three years. Additionally, two in five people surveyed know someone who lost money to fraud in the past year. While the types of scams reported vary, many of the biggest losses came from crypto-related schemes, where stolen funds often reached into the thousands and, in multiple cases, well into five figures.
The median amount lost was $250, while the average stolen was $1,917. One-third of those who lost money say they didn’t report the incident to their financial institution or law enforcement.
Still, the majority of respondents (76%) say they’re confident in their ability to identify scams.
How People Are Fending Off Fraudsters
One of the more encouraging revelations from the survey is that many respondents say they’re taking steps to protect their finances. The majority of those surveyed (77%) say they’ve changed their behavior due to the risk of fraud. Nearly four in five report that they now review their bank and credit card activity on a weekly basis, and many say they employ enhanced safety measures to protect their financial accounts.
When asked specifically to describe how they’ve altered their habits, many respondents say they’re much more cautious before interacting with unfamiliar communications.
“I don’t immediately assume a text or email is genuine,” says one respondent. “I now contact the actual point of contact and not the phone number in the message.”
That approach is commonly recommended by fraud experts, who say scammers have used AI and other advanced tools to make messages appear to be from trusted sources. Scams have become more sophisticated, and consumers are noticing. Around 79% of respondents say they believe AI is making scams harder to spot, and two-thirds say they think AI will put their financial health at risk.
Overall, respondents feel their financial institutions are effective at protecting them, with just 7% saying their bank is ineffective when it comes to safeguarding their finances from fraud.
People are split when it comes to who should be the first line of defense against scams, with 39% saying the responsibility ultimately falls on individuals. Some appear up for the challenge.
“I am very careful about the email and texts that I open,” says one respondent. “I am not opening weird stuff if I do not know the sender. Everyone is trying to scam you, and I am not going to have that happen.”
This piece was edited by Mark Evitt and reviewed by Ray Frager.
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Survey: Nearly Half of Americans Receive Scam Messages Every Day originally appeared on usnews.com
