Living Secure
A global survey of thedigital moments we needto protect against scams
in 2024

CEO Welcome
As our lives become increasingly digital, thepotential impact of scams has increased inseverity, incorporating not only financial loss, butalso the theft of our most personal data.
In 2023, a third of people (34%) experienced acyber scam, while 85% reported receiving a
digital scam attempt. It’s no wonder, then, that
80% of people report worrying about their online
safety, and 7 in 10 don’t know who to trust online.
Amidst the AI revolution, the threats experienced
by people in their important digital moments
continue to increase.
The latest ‘Living Secure’ survey collects insightfrom 7,000 people, from seven regions around theworld, highlighting the digital moments we needto protect against scams in 2024.

Timo Laaksonen
President and CEO, F-Secure

2

Living Secure

Contents

3

CEO Welcome2

Who we surveyed

4

Digital moments

6

Generation scam

8

Trust in 2024

10

Vulnerable and confused

12

Shopping and banking

13

The evolving scamscape

15

Methodology

17

Living SecureWho we surveyed

I worry about my safety online
50%
52%

48%

40%

In 2022 F-Secure revealed how our lives are now punctuated by digital
moments, whether that’s sending emails, consuming social media, dating,30%

working, or buying goods online. And whilst two years is a long time intechnology, the findings of this year’s survey reveal that—despite alreadybeing identified by participants in 2022—the main areas of online worry
have still not been addressed.

20%

GenderMale

The things that made us feel vulnerable two years ago are the same

Female10%

today, with 80% of us worrying about our online safety. And the companies
working in these areas—gambling, dating, banking, smart devices,

14%

0%

12%

Strongly
disagree

shopping, gaming, social media—haven’t done enough to make us feel any
safer. In fact, in some cases, such as dating, gambling, shopping, and social
media usage, the feeling of vulnerability has increased.

17%

more exposed to scammers’ tactics than ever—with three quarters of us

19%

19%

using social media on a weekly basis (76%), and generative AI making it

education around scams as well as the right protection.

42%

Somewhat Somewhat
disagree
agree

38%

Strongly
agree

KEY TAKEAWAYS

protected - provide the perfect vehicle for scams to happen. We’re now

our findings show that effective consumer cyber security starts with

15%

20%

What’s more, we’re today seeing how our digital moments—if not properly

harder than ever to spot scams, misinformation, and fake news. Ultimately

5%34% of people experienced a cyber scam in 2023

Age

85% of people reported receiving a digital scam attempt

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65-74

80% of participants worry about their online safety
54% of cyber scams are conducted via email
7 in 10 people do not know who to trust online

4

Living SecureA need for simpler scam protection
We asked people whether they agreed with the statement:“I find cyber security too complex.”

50%

40%

30%

72% say smart
device makers aren’t
ensuring online safety
and privacy.

20%

10%

0%

9%

Strongly
disagree22%

43%

Somewhat Somewhat
disagree
agree

26%

Strongly
agree

36% of our respondents said
they had children under the ageof 15 currently living with them.
5

Living SecureDigital moments
Our 2024 results reveal that our most important digital
moments are largely unchanged in the last two years, withthe top seven positions remaining the same (see p7).
The only moment to drop out of the top 10 list was ‘Making
voice calls’, which was ranked as 8th most important in 2022(‘Look for information & study’ having replaced it). However,whilst the moments we deem to be important were
essentially the same, there were some significant changes
in frequency (see p7).
Sending and receiving emails remained the top digital
moment that we do at least weekly (at 88%). But other topics
increased significantly. Sending messages on apps such as
WhatsApp was at 83% (up from 72%); checking the weather
forecast was up to 80% (a 13% increase); consuming social
media jumped from 64% to 76%; and reading the news
increased from 67% to 75%.
These results show a marked increase in digital interaction
since 2022. Voice calls are down, but every other social
activity has gone up (such as social media usage, emailing,
and instant messaging). This has increased our general
exposure to digital scams and fake news, in an era whengenerative AI is making them increasingly difficult to spot.

6

Living Secure

76% of people consume
social media (at least weekly)
in 2024. Which is a 12%
increase in just two years.

Top 10 mostfrequent digital
moments(2024 vs 2022)

100%

The frequency of our mostimportant digital moments
has increased (at least weekly).

40%

2024

2022

80%
60%

20%
0%

Top 10 mostimportant digital
moments(2024 vs 2022)

100%

We asked our survey respondents
which online activities were ofmost importance to them. The list
is largely unchanged over the last
two years.

40%

2024

7

2022

Living Secure

88%

86%

83%

72%

Sending/
receivingemailsSending/
receivingmessages

45%

43%

80%

67%

Checking
the weather

70%

71%

69%

62%

69%

63%

Makingvoice calls

Watching
short videos(TikTok etc.)

TV/Movie
streaming

37%

34%

25%

76%

64%

Consumingsocial media

75%

67%

Reading
the news

68%

65%

Finance andbanking

66%

59%

Seeking
information/
studying

80%
60%

20%
0%

45%

Sending/
receivingemails43%

Paying bills

40%

36%

Finance andbanking

36%

Sending/
receivingmessages

31%

Onlineshopping

23%

Reading the
news

21%

24%

TV/Movie
streaming

20%

18%

Streaming
music

18%

17%

Seeking
information/
studying

17%

18%

Working
onlineGeneration scam
The Living Secure survey reveals that cyber crime has never been moreprevalent; 85% of our survey respondents said they had received a digital
scam attempt, with 4 in 10 people getting them on a weekly basis. And of the
7,000 people we questioned, 36% said that they get more scam attempts now
than they did 12 months ago.
It isn’t just attempts that are on the increase, either. Our 2024 survey found thata third of people (34%) experienced a cyber scam over the past 12 months,
which was a 7% increase since 2022. For the 34% of people that experienced
cyber crime, a quarter suffered financial loss of some type. And over a third(36%) said that it had led to a loss of time. (See the effects of a cyber scam
opposite.)
Despite the growing prevalence of scams—and the continued sophisticationof generative AI in creating convincing content of all kinds, including images,
video, text, and audio—77% of people believe they know how to recognize
an online threat. However, of those people that were victims of cyber scams,
almost half (45%) said they were unable to identify the scam that affected them.

34% of people haveexperienced a cyber scamduring the past 12 months.
8

Living Secure

Scam attempts by channel

4%
7%
8%

Discover the main channels being used by cyberscammers in 2024

1%
1%
54%

11%

Email

Other

Text/SMS message

Social media posting
Instant messaging
14%

Phone call
Online marketplace

Digital advertising

Effects of a cyber scam
Discover how people were affected by cyber scams in 2024

30%

20%

10%

0%

36%

25%

22%

Loss oftime

Loss ofmoney

Stress andconcern

11%

6%

Loss of Loss of data
personal (photos etc.)
details

19%
33%

15%
1%

3%
3%

2%
7%
7%

4% 4%

EXPERT INSIGHT

2024 scam breakdown
An overview of the scam attempts received byour respondents in the last year.

Scams pose a uniquethreat to our online lives.
Modern day scamming
employs both themanipulation tactics that

Shopping scam

Investment scam

Fake invoice / Dept scam
Other

Employment scam

Advance fee scam

Authority scam

Romance / Friend in need scam
Charity scam

Threats & Extortion scamTravel / booking scam
None of the above
9

Living Secureappeal to our emotionalsides with the readily
available technology todeliver them. This makes
them a real problem foreveryone.
Laura Kankaala,
Threat Intelligence Leadat F-Secure.

Trust in 2024
When compared to our 2022 results, it’s clear that trust
continues to be a huge issue in our digital lives, with 80%
of people surveyed in 2024 saying that they worry about
their online safety—a 5% increase in the last two years.
Alongside general concerns about their online safety,
the Living Secure survey also found that 7 in 10 people
don’t know who they can trust online. And it’s easy to see
where the lack of trust comes from, when you consider
that over half of our survey respondents (54%) said they
had no idea if their digital devices were secure or not.
Given their increasing ubiquity within our homes, smart
devices drew particular attention. According to Statista,
household penetration for smart home devices will hit
18.9% in 2024, with it expected to reach 33.2% by 2028.
And our survey found that—rather than addressing thesecurity concerns of their growing user base—smart
home device manufacturers have actually lost trust
since 2022 (28% worry about their smart home security
in 2024, compared to 25% in 2022).

How people feel about security (2024 vs 2022)
We asked people to provide us with responses to the following statements.

71%

73%

83%

69%

70%

79%

“I don’t know who totrust online”“I worry about myfamily’s safety online”“I enable two-factor
authentication whenavailable”

80%

54%

75%

51%

I worry about mysafety online”“I have no idea if mydevices are secure”

Agreed in 2024
Agreed in 2022

7 in 10 people saythat they don’t know
who to trust online.
10

Living SecureEXPERT INSIGHT
Consumer trust isplummeting due to an
explosion of scams anduncertainties about
online security. People
are increasingly
unsure about whoto trust, whether
their devices are
secure, and how they
can protect themselves
online. This trend is

80% of people are now worrying
about their online safety, which
is up 5% since 2022.
11

Living Secure

expected to intensify
with the prevalenceof deepfakes andAI-generated content.
Paula Al Soufi,
Director Portfolio
Strategy at F-Secure.

Vulnerable andconfused
Our results show that a lack of trust, alongside poortransparency from service and hardware providers,has contributed to people feeling more vulnerable andconfused when it comes to protecting their digital
moments.
Across almost every sector, worries remain (seecomparisons opposite). And huge marketing
campaigns (such as Santander’s award-winning‘Bank of Antandec’ series) appear to have had
no impact in the last 24 months. In both 2022 and2024 the same amount of people said that they feel
vulnerable when banking online (24%).
Elsewhere, people feel more vulnerable online
shopping than they did two years ago; digital worry
has increased for those gambling online; and thesafety of dating apps continues to concern users.
When a lack of trust leads to feelings of vulnerability,
confusion naturally follows. And as we saw in theprevious section, 54% of people said that they
had no idea if their device was secure, which was
accompanied by 69% saying they found cybersecurity too complex. Under these circumstances,
digital threats and cyber scams are flourishing.

12

Living Secure

10 moments that make us feel most vulnerable (2024 vs 2022)
Discover the percentage of people that felt vulnerable in their digital moments

44%

39%

28%

28%

28%

42%

35%

29%

29%

25%

Using online
dating apps

Gambling
onlineCreating social
media content

Consumingsocial media
content

Managing
smart homedevices
2024

28%

27%

25%

24%

23%

2022
27%

25%

25%

24%

22%

Checking onfamilyShopping
onlinePlaying games

Finance andbanking

Completing
official tasks/
docs

70% of people think that
their cyber threat is going toincrease next year.

13

Living Secure

We asked our 7,000 survey respondents to tell us which online
activities made them feel most vulnerable.

35%

45%
40%
35%

10%

10%

5%

5%

0%

44%

39%

28%

28%

28%

28%

27%

25%

24%

23%

23%

22%

Online medical
consultation(doctor or nurse)

15%

Completing official
tasks or docs

15%

Completing official
tasks or documents

20%

Finance andbanking

20%

Playing games

25%

Online shopping

25%

Checking what mychildren are doing
online30%

Managing mysmart homedevices

30%

Consuming social
media content

This should come as no surprise. Because whenmoney is changing hands online, you can be surethat cyber scammers are working on ways tointercept it. Like shopping, banking and financeis also a key sector for cyber scammers. And
our survey data shows that 24% of people now
feel vulnerable when banking online, with 68%
of people saying that they now bank or manage
their finances online on a weekly basis.

40%

Creating social
content (audio/
video)

The findings of the Living Secure survey 2024
support these growing concerns aroundecommerce, with 43% saying that they don’tknow how to identify a legitimate eStore, and
27% saying that online shopping made them feel
vulnerable (up from 25% in 2022).

45%

Gamble online

In the fall of 2023, F-Secure revealed that nearly
1 in 4 people (24%) had fallen victim to an online
shopping scam in the past year. And in the same
survey, F-Secure found that 6 in 10 (62%) admit
they now avoid shopping with small, independent
online businesses.

Top 12 online activities thatmake us feel vulnerable

Using online
dating app

Shopping andbanking0%

EXPERT INSIGHT
In 2023, we saw a rise in
shopping fraud delivered
through fake ads onsocial media. In 2024,
this type of fraudulent
advertisement will growto new heights withthe use of generativeAI, making it hard to

40% of people are now
shopping online every week.
14

Living Secure

differentiate between
fake and real ads.
Yik Han,Researcher at F-Secure.

The evolving
scamscapeThings are moving at an incredible pace inthe digital world. As each year passes, digital
moments are taking up more of our time. And injust 24 months, the time people spent on their top
digital moments increased by up to 13% (see p7).
Sadly, despite spending more time in our digital
moments, the Living Secure survey reveals that
we don’t feel any safer than we did two years ago;in fact, concerns have actually increased since2022. Eight in 10 people now worry about online
safety. Half of us (54%) have no idea if our devices
are secure. And 69% find cyber security toocomplex. Given these results, 70% of people thinkthat their cyber threat is going to increase nextyear.
Of our survey respondents, 85% said that they’dreceived a digital scam attempt, with 36% saying
they get more scam attempts today than they did
12 months ago. And it’s likely that these scams will
not only increase in number, but also in credibility,
as generative AI tools are employed to create
more believable text, image, video, and audio
content.

15

Living Secure

“Amidst this technological revolution, the threats
experienced by people in their important digital
moments continue to increase in both quantity
and credibility, making them easier to fall for.
However, there’s a silver lining: AI helps us detectand counter threats more effectively. It also helps
us develop the user experience of our security
services, enabling a whole new level of simple,
effective protection.”
Timo Laaksonen, President and CEO at F-Secure

16

Living SecureMethodology
For the second ‘Living Secure’

MEET THE EXPERT

survey, F-Secure wanted to study the

Laura Kankaala, ThreatIntelligence Lead at F-Secureimportance and impact that digital

Laura Kankaala studied at

moments have on our daily lives, but also

Finland’s Turku University

expand the remit to look at digital scams.

of Applied Sciences before
working as a security consultant

The survey captures which activities

for companies such as KPMG

are most important to us, it covers thosewhich make us feel most vulnerable, andand F-Secure. Kankaala is anactive speaker and podcaster,it highlights how scams are increasing

Laura Kankaala

in a setting where generative AI makes

Threat Intelligence Lead F-Securethem harder to spot.
The F-Secure consumer survey, ‘Living Secure’, was undertaken in January
2024. The online survey was conducted in cooperation with Dynata. And
the total number of respondents was 7000, selected from seven countries:
Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, UK and USA (N = 1000/country,
age 18-75 years).

17

Living Secureand she is a regular contributor
to F-Alert, F-Secure’s monthly
threat report.

About F-Secure
F-Secure makes every digital moment moresecure, for everyone. We deliver brilliantly
simple, frictionless security experiences thatmake life easier for the tens of millions of people
we protect and our 200 partners.
For more than 35 years, we’ve led the cybersecurity industry, inspired by a pioneering spiritborn out of a shared commitment to do betterby working together.
For more information visit f-secure.com today.