Survey Finds AI Used in 12% of 2025 Scams

A Gallup and Stop Scams Alliance survey of 5,173 U.S. adults found that 12% of successful scams in 2025 involved AI or deepfakes, with Americans losing an estimated $68 billion to scams last year. The survey indicates about 6% of adults (roughly 15 million people) were scammed in 2025, highlighting the growing threat of AI-enabled fraud.

Industry context: For AI and data-practitioners, the rise of AI-enabled fraud increases demands on detection, provenance verification, and monitoring for synthetic-media abuse. NBC News reports that a Gallup and Stop Scams Alliance survey of 5,173 U.S. adult respondents conducted in January-February found about 6% of adults said they were scammed in 2025, roughly 15 million people, and that 12% of those successful scams involved AI or deepfakes. The survey also estimated Americans lost $68 billion to scams last year, NBC News reports. NBC News quotes Ken Westbrook, founder and CEO of the Stop Scams Alliance, saying, "These guys aren't called organized crime for nothing. They're actually organized, and they're using their organization to start attacking us with scale now to a tune of $68 billion, which is like the annual revenues of Delta Airlines. It's like a Fortune 500 company. It's huge," The article notes prior public reporting, including an OpenAI briefing, documenting attempts to use generative AI for fraud, as reported by NBC News.