Most consumers receive suspicious calls, texts or emails at least once a month
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How prevalent are scam calls, texts, and emails for everyday consumers?
Scams and suspicious messages are becoming an increasingly common part of everyday life with new research finding. Eighty five percent of us encounter suspicious calls, texts, emails, or online content at least once a month. More than half of people say the amount of suspicious activity they are seeing has increased over the past year. Well, one in four say some communications now appear to be AI generated. Neve Davenport is head of Financial crime with Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. She joins me now on the line. Morning, Eve. Good morning, how are you? Uh good thanks. Now this uh research is i is very interesting. I suppose it probably won't come as a surprise to many people. Just how widespread have these scam attempts become for the average person?
It it's it's we're just being bombarded really at the moment. Um the research showed that we're getting them at least once a month and in some cases probably more frequently than that. So we're really getting it's either calls, texts or emails on a regular basis now. It's part of our daily lives.
What red‑flags should listeners look for to spot a fraudulent message?
And it is a growing problem. It is increased. I think it the survey would show it's increasing.
Yeah. People seem to be getting more and more of them. And I think it's the the not just one type of message. It's there's different channels we're getting calls. I think the research showed that sixty one percent um of people were receiving uh scam calls, texts were at fifty eight percent and emails fifty one percent. So fairly even across the board. So it's all channels of communication that we're getting them on as well, not just one. And as you mentioned there as well about the AI, I think that helps as well because it's it's making the content more believable but it's also helping the volume be able to be pushed out by the fraudsters.
Okay. And in terms of how one spots a uh a scam, like what are the red flags you would be warning people about?
There's things like an unknown number or a mobile number. For example, your bank or the p on PUST aren't going to be texting you on um a normal mobile number, things like that. If there's a a link in the text message, that's a red flag as well. Any contact details, to be honest, in a text message, I would not use them.
How does AI‑generated content increase the credibility of scams?
Uh, you know, verify. That was one something that came out in the research. One in ten people were still clicking on links in text messages and about fifteen percent said that they weren't v verifying or independently checking what the information said before acting. So really taking that time to think before you click, check independently and really protect your financial information as well. It's really important.
Yeah. Um you the new campaign, you you talk about scammers using social engineering. What what do you mean by that?
Yes, so we're launching a new campaign with Fraud Smart, see the scam behind the screen. And really what social engineering uh means, it's just fraudsters manipulating people into taking action. So it's building that sense of urgency, for example. It's the methods that they use to make us believe we are actually talking to a legitimate person rather than a fraudster. So it's building, you know, this urgency, something's gonna happen if you don't act quickly. Your Wi Fi is gonna be cut off or your bank account is going to be frozen. And in other cases as well, building a sense of trust. So one of the red flags is actually they didn't ask for payment information, but they're building trust.
What is social engineering and how do scammers create urgency and trust?
They will ask maybe for some in personal information. They might if it's an investment scam, they may take some time, sometimes a couple of months before they even ask you to make a payment. So It's this sense of urgency or pressure and then building a sense of trust. So it's see the scan behind the screen. Don't trust what's in front of you automatically. Really take that time to do your checks.
In terms of of how people react to this, I mean y uh obviously some people fall for these scams or the scammers wouldn't be doing it, but uh I mean are most people Taking action to them or are they ignoring them or what are they doing?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How prevalent are scam calls, texts, and emails for everyday consumers?
0:00–0:56
2
What red‑flags should listeners look for to spot a fraudulent message?
0:56–1:57
3
How does AI‑generated content increase the credibility of scams?
1:57–2:58
4
What is social engineering and how do scammers create urgency and trust?
2:58–3:55
5
Why do most people ignore scam attempts, and how many still fall for them?
3:55–4:40
6
Where do these scam calls originate and why is it a global problem?
4:40–5:39
7
What steps should victims take if they’ve shared personal or financial details?
5:39–6:51
8
What information should never be given to unknown callers or messages?
6:51–8:32