Study Finds 70% of 18-22-Year-Olds Hit by AI Scams as Online Trust Erodes

Q: With AI virtual kidnappings skyrocketing, what single piece of your public social media data could make you the next target?

The most dangerous single item is a short public audio or video clip of your voice—or your child’s voice—posted on social media. That is because AI virtual kidnapping scams depend on making a fake emergency sound real. Security researchers and law enforcement say scammers can clone a voice from only a few seconds of audio pulled from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, voicemail greetings or other public posts. Malwarebytes found 19% of young adults had encountered deepfake or virtual kidnapping scams, and the FBI has warned that cloned voices, altered photos and fabricated videos are now being used to pressure families into paying quickly. What makes one clip so valuable is that it can be paired with other public details already visible online, such as names, family relationships, school references, locations or travel posts. That lets criminals know whose voice to clone and whom to call. A holiday video, birthday post or school performance clip can give them both the voice sample and the family context needed to sound convincing. The practical fix is to lock down public audio and video before anything else. Make family videos private, remove old clips with clear speech, restrict who can view Stories and reels, and avoid posting children’s voices publicly. Also reduce visible family-link information, use a family code word, and if a panic call comes in, hang up and verify through a known number or another relative before sending money.

1 articles · Updated · PR Newswire · Aug 11

Seventy percent of young adults aged 18 to 22 said they experienced an AI-related scam in the past year, versus 50% of the general population, according to a Malwarebytes survey across five Western countries.
AI is making deception harder to spot: 50% of young adults strongly agreed it is becoming harder to tell whether online content is real, 44% said they encountered false AI-generated information, and 47% said AI changed how much they trust reviews and content.
More invasive fraud is also rising among that group, with 24% reporting extortion scams, 19% deepfake or virtual kidnapping scams, 14% impersonation scams and 12% romance scams.
The March 2026 study of 1,500 respondents in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria and Switzerland said young adults are reacting by sharing less online, tightening privacy settings and taking extra verification steps.