Scams now operate like real businesses with budgets and targets (opens in new tab)

Social media has overtaken email as a primary attack vector, showing changes in how people consume information and interact online, according to Bitdefender’s Global Scam Intelligence Report 2026. Fraud campaigns use advertisements, sponsored content, impersonation pages, and direct messages to reach users. Global scam breakdown by category (Source: Bitdefender) One in seven consumers fell victim to a scam during the past year. Scam operations resemble organized businesses, with structured wo...