For most of 2025, AI-generated scams were still a minority of what hit inboxes and phones — a growing threat, but not yet the dominant one. Then December arrived. According to Hoxhunt’s 2026 Phishing Trends Report, AI-assisted attacks surged from 4% of all reported phishing in November 2025 to 56% in December, a 14-fold jump in a single month driven by criminal actors using generative AI to mass-produce convincing lures at zero skill cost. That share had stabilized at around 40% through early 2026 and, as of this Independence Day weekend, has held there — meaning four in ten phishing attempts a reader encounters today are AI-generated. The Federal Trade Commission confirmed the human cost: imposter scams — the category that includes smishing, voice cloning, and QR-code fraud — were the most reported type of fraud in 2025 for the ninth consecutive year, with losses climbing nearly 20%…
Limit the amount of personal information you share on social media, such as your high school name or your mother’s maiden name, as these are frequently used as security question answers.