Nearly half of UK adults surveyed who encountered an online scam in the past year were not shocked when it happened (49%¹). Not alarmed. Not surprised. Not moved to act. Simply unsurprised. That finding should concern every CMO in the technology and cyber security sector.
Among over-55s, that figure rises to 58%. Among 25–34s – a digitally fluent cohort who should know better than most – it sits at 41%¹. Across age groups, across genders, across regions, the picture is the same: online fraud has become a background condition of modern life, as unremarkable as traffic or rain.
New nationally representative research from Censuswide, fielded among 2,000 UK adults in late February 2026, makes the scale of this problem vivid. Seven in ten Brits (71%²) have encountered a suspected online scam in the past twelve months. One in four³ encounter scams at least monthly. But the exposure data, striking as it is, is not the most important story. What is important is what happens when a threat becomes routine. When the majority stops reacting, protection erodes – and the space scammers need to operate gets wider, not narrower.
The financial damage is real – and skews younger than assumed
Of those who encountered a scam, 24% lost money. The average loss is £443 – but for 25–34 year olds, the mean loss rises to £760, nearly double the overall average. For 45–54s it falls to £197. The picture is of a young, highly online demographic bearing disproportionate financial harm – one that is poorly served by security messaging that still defaults to imagery of elderly victims and phone scams.
Normalisation is not resilience
When asked how being scammed affected them, 38% of victims felt angry, 25% felt stupid, and 16% felt ashamed. Shame suppresses reporting, discourages help-seeking, and creates silence that benefits scammers; and a population that feels stupid and ashamed when defrauded is not coping. The 27% who felt nothing at all represent a different kind of risk: emotional disengagement is not the same as immunity. It may simply mean this group has stopped treating scam encounters as events that warrant a defensive response.
The behaviour-protection gap is the sector’s biggest commercial opportunity
87⁴% of UK adults surveyed say fraud has changed their behaviour. But the changes are largely surface-level: 35% are more suspicious of unknown phone numbers, 29% avoid clicking links. Fewer have taken structural action. Only 27.5% use two-factor authentication more frequently. Only 9.65% have installed additional security software.
The gap between perceived caution and actual technical protection is the defining insight in this dataset. Consumers believe they are doing something. Most are not doing enough. Making robust technical protection feel as intuitive as “being more careful” is as much a product design challenge as a communications one, and it remains largely unsolved.
The trust deficit
When asked which institutions are doing enough to prevent fraud, only 22% of consumers nominated technology companies – below banks (39%), and barely above government (21%). Online retailers came in at 16%. This is a strong indicator that the technology sector is not being seen as part of the solution. For many consumers, it is implicitly part of the problem: a set of platforms that have made fraud faster and more scalable without taking sufficient responsibility for the consequences. That perception may not be entirely fair, but perception is what trust is built on.
The opportunity
69⁵% of UK adults believe online fraud is now unavoidable. Among 18–24s, it rises to 75%. When the most digitally native generation has given up on the idea that fraud can be meaningfully prevented, the industry has a communications failure on its hands, not just a fraud problem.
The brands that disprove that fatalism – visibly, credibly, accessibly – will earn something the sector currently lacks: genuine consumer trust. Inevitability is not the same as acceptance. The British public has not stopped caring about online fraud. It has stopped believing that anyone with the power to fix it is actually trying. That is the gap the sector needs to close.
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Research conducted by Censuswide among 2,000 nationally representative UK adults, 27 February – 2 March 2026.
The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 2,000 nationally representative UK adults. The data was collected between 27.02.2026-02.03.2026. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Censuswide is also a member of the British Polling Council.
Is your messaging speaking to the right people, about the right things, in the right way?
The data in this report reveals a sector communicating past its audience – targeting the wrong demographics, underestimating emotional impact, and failing to make the case that protection is both possible and accessible. Closing the trust gap starts with understanding exactly where your brand stands with the consumers you are trying to reach.
Censuswide works with technology and cyber security brands to design and deliver bespoke research that sharpens messaging, identifies audience misconceptions, and builds the evidence base for campaigns that actually shift behaviour. Whether you need to benchmark consumer trust in your brand, understand how your target audience perceives online risk, or test messaging before it goes to market – we can build the study around your specific challenge.
Get in touch at info@censuswide.com to talk through what a custom research programme could look like for your organisation.
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¹ Combines ‘Not shocked at all’ and ‘not that shocked’
² Excludes ‘Never’ and ‘Not sure’
³ Combines ‘Monthly, weekly, almost daily’
⁴ Inverse of ‘I have not changed my behaviour’
⁵ Combines ‘Yes ‘ it is just a part of being online’ and ‘Somewhat’
