A growing number of Americans believe artificial intelligence is tipping the scales in favor of scammers.
According to Alloy’s 2025 State of Scams Report, 85% of US consumers fear that AI technology has made scams harder to detect, with many worried about increasingly convincing impersonations and voice-cloning fraud.
The report, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Alloy, found that AI-generated bank impersonations (28%), voice cloning phone calls (21%), and synthetic identity fraud (18%) are the top threats keeping people up at night.
But while consumers are uneasy about AI’s dark side, many also want financial institutions to use the same technology to fight back. Two-thirds (66%) of Americans said they are more likely to bank with institutions that deploy AI-driven security tools. Nearly all respondents (97%) ranked fraud prevention and security as the most important factor when choosing a financial institution.
Scams are becoming more personal — and more painful
Beyond the statistics, Alloy’s report paints a troubling picture of how scams now strike closer to home. Over 60% of Americans say they or someone they know has been targeted by a scam, while 28% admit to losing money. One in five victims reported losses of $5,000 or more, underscoring the financial toll of this new wave of cybercrime.
For many, however, the emotional damage hits harder than the financial loss. “Consumers ranked emotional distress (29%) as the worst consequence of being scammed,” the report said, even higher than the percentage who cited financial loss (28%).
Sara Seguin, a fraud expert at Alloy, said the data confirms what they’re witnessing firsthand: “AI hasn’t made fraudsters more sophisticated, it’s made them more efficient,” she explained in the company’s release. “A single criminal can now launch thousands of personalized attacks in minutes. But here’s what’s fascinating: consumers get it. They’re demanding banks use the same AI technologies to protect them.”
Younger generations expect banks to step up
The report also reveals a generational divide in how Americans view accountability. Two-thirds (67%) believe banks should reimburse scam victims even when they personally authorized the transaction — a view held most strongly by younger adults. 73% of Gen Z and Millennials said they expect reimbursement, compared to 62% of Gen X and Boomers.
Interestingly, many Americans appear willing to give up some personal privacy in exchange for better digital security. The survey found that 69% of respondents would trade a degree of privacy if it meant stronger AI-powered scam protection.
Trust, however, remains fragile. 87% of consumers said they would “lose trust in their financial institution if it failed to notify them about attempted scams.” This trust gap, experts warn, could erode the relationship between customers and financial institutions if not managed carefully.
Trace Fooshée, a strategic advisor at Datos Insights, told Alloy, “As fraudsters’ use of AI tools accelerates, the scope and scale of authorized payment scams edge closer to a tipping point that threatens to upend the trust relationship across the whole financial system.”
The report underscores that both consumers and financial institutions are facing the same growing threat. While individuals are urged to stay cautious, banks are under pressure to adopt more advanced tools to detect and stop fraudulent activity before it causes damage.
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