AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Watch out the next time you take a quiz on social media or download an app, it could be a scam.
“You may think responding to a quiz on social media is [a] fun, good way to spend some time, a couple of minutes, right?” said Kathy Stokes, the fraud prevention director with AARP. “But that could be giving information to criminals to better target you.
A recent report from AARP found that more than 276 million adults have encountered potential cyber threats by downloading unverified apps or taking social media quizzes.
Experts blame cyber criminals evolving with sophisticated scams.
“It used to be like the grifter, the guy in his mom's basement, you know, trying to find people on social media. This is all organized crime, and it's coming from all over the world," Stokes said. "It's a business, they have the money, they have the time, they have the staff, and quite often, people are being exploited.”
Stokes said cyber thieves are robbing American’s billons of dollars.
“The FTC -- Federal Trade Commission -- reported losses at 10 billion, which was just insane,” explained Stokes. “But then, 10 months later, said, based on underreporting, it was probably more like $158.3 billion in one year leaving our economy.”
The report suggests updating passwords and enabling security features can significantly reduce your risk of becoming part of a growing number of victims.
AARP’s survey found the following:
- 64% of adults reuse passwords across multiple accounts.
- 35% of consumers use social media logins to access other platforms—a risky practice, especially among 18–49-year-olds (48%).
- 64% of Americans don’t use VPNs when on public Wi-Fi.
- 90% now agree that anyone can fall victim to scams—marking a cultural shift in perception.
“In 2017, 2018, we were looking at maybe 15% of the population having fraud losses of significant money, identity fraud, and now we're up to 41%. I think that's staggering,” said Stokes.
