Almost half (44%) of mobile users report being exposed to scams and threats daily, with a majority concerned about losing important files and productivity loss as a result, according to Malwarebytes. The security vendor polled 1,300 adults in the US, UK, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland for its "Tap, Swipe, Scam" report. Although it focused on the personal impact of such threats, they’re having a growing impact on enterprise risk, given the large number of organizations that allow Bring Your Device (BYOD).
Risk exposure was highest in the US (51%) and the UK (49%). In the report, 66% of all respondents admitted it’s increasingly hard to spot a scam from legitimate communications, and over a third (36%) said they’d fallen victim in the past. Just under a fifth (36%) claimed they’d experienced a malware infection. These threats originate from various mobile-related channels, most commonly email (65%), followed by phone calls (53%), SMS (50%), social media (47%), messaging apps (40%), and “buying/selling platforms” (36%). Social engineering is the most encountered threat (53%), with a fifth (19%) of respondents falling victim. This chimes with separate studies that have tracked a growth in mobile-related phishing.[1]
A Zimperium study from September 2024 claimed that 82% of all phishing sites now target mobile devices. Earlier this year, the same vendor released data revealing that mobile phishing attacks (“Mishing”) peaked in August 2024 at over 1,000 per day. According to Malwarebytes, extortion is also commonplace, with 17% having fallen victim to this type of mobile threat and 37% encountering one, including ransomware (25%), sextortion (24%), and deepfake scams (20%). Around a fifth (18%) even said they’d experienced a virtual kidnapping attempt. This is all taking a psychological toll on victims, according to the report. Three-quarters of respondents told Malwarebytes they’d experienced emotional harm such as mental health issues (46%) or blackmail/harassment (25%).
David Ruiz, a senior privacy advocate at Malwarebytes, argued that mobile threats are both personal and technical. “As cyber-threats grow more sophisticated and cybercriminals truly adopt deepfake and AI technologies, we must go beyond raising awareness and empower users with the right tools and knowledge,” he added. “No one should accept scams as the cost of digital life. There is no shame, we want people to feel confident spotting, stopping, and reporting scams, no matter how intimate.”
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[1] https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/half-of-mobile-users-now-face/
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