McAfee finds Indians spend 102 hours per year guessing scam messages Business News & more related News Here

Even though awareness has increased, the figures are still worrying. Indians receive an average of 13 fraudulent communications every day via text, social media, email, phone calls and even malicious QR codes. Online security firm McAfee’s 2026 State of the Scamverse report for India, released today, makes a worrying trend even clearer – scams look and feel more realistic than ever. This means that scam messages, such as a fake motor vehicle challan notification with a link to make payment, appear more realistic to ordinary users until analyzed closely. That is just an example.

McAfee’s 2026 State of the Scamverse report states that scams have become such a part of all communications we receive on a daily basis, that an average person spends up to 102 hours per year sifting through an SMS, email, WhatsApp message or incoming phone call to determine whether it is real or fake. Two out of five Indian users surveyed as part of this report (the report’s survey sample size was 7,592 adults) say they feel less confident about spotting scams than they did a year ago, and 82% of Indians surveyed say they are now definitely more cautious about opening messages from unknown senders.

But not everyone seems equally cautious. The report notes that more than 1 in 5 people admit to receiving suspicious social messages that no longer contain any links (nothing to hover over, no URL to question) and 66% of these recipients go ahead and respond to those link-less DMs, which often triggers the next stage of the scam. This could include accessing a compromised social media account, or a fake QR code that may look authentic but is not sending the payment where you expect it to reach.

Realism defines scam attempts

There is a need to focus on details and rely on identifying the smallest signs that will distinguish a scam attempt now more than perhaps a year ago, when poor grammar and poor attempts at obvious impersonation underpinned such communications. This is no longer the case, scammers are increasingly using professional language (this may be one of the drawbacks of having AI chatbots at everyone’s disposal), sophisticated branding of brands being impersonated, and convincing scenarios such as fake car invoice notifications, fake delivery notices, account verification requests, subscription renewals, or reminders to pay taxes. People see an average of 4 deepfakes every day, the report specifically touches on this aspect of user behavior.

The scope has broadened, with previously common topics including remote job profile offers, charity appeals and bank alerts that closely resemble actual messages from the bank. Voice communications over phone calls and WhatsApp calls have an added element of realism, as do harmless payment methods designed to withdraw money from your bank account. “They create layers of deepfake videos and voice calls and hide malicious sites behind QR codes that appear on menus, parking meters, posters and emails that otherwise look harmless,” the report said.

the fight is not over yet

Latest data from the Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C) indicates that Indians lost ₹Fraud and fraud cases worth Rs 19,813 crore in 2025, 21.77 lakh complaints filed on National Cyber ​​Crime Reporting Portal. About 77% of these losses originated from fraudulent investment schemes, making scams more sophisticated and harder to detect.

McAfee also points to the use of AI in making scam communications appear more sophisticated and realistic than you might already suspect. Some context is necessary.

Over the past 12 months, AI has become part of everyday internet culture, with AI-generated content coming to prominence particularly through social media, and ranging from politician and celebrity impersonations to bears dancing to popular music tracks. It’s appropriately classified as a low-effort ‘AI-generated slop’, which was duly named Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year.

Unfortunately, sustained and regular exposure to AI-generated slurs (more often by choice, than otherwise) has the effect of subtly retuning the brain, resulting in blunted responses when using the same AI tools to create malicious communications. “And that’s dangerous because scammers are increasingly borrowing similar AI tools and techniques to make their schemes more credible,” the report said.

It adds, “Phishing scams have stepped up their game, with scammers able to quickly and easily create a malicious site that looks almost identical to that of a legitimate company or create conversations that seem genuine, lulling recipients into a false sense of security.”

What’s the next frontier for scammers?

If you’re wondering who scammers will target after impersonating websites and payment QR codes along with text and voice based messaging, McAfee predicts that cloud storage impersonation, job scams, malicious advertising and financial scams revolving around trading apps will become common.

“Millions of consumers use cloud storage services like Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox to store and share everything from important documents to treasure troves of photos, making it a target-rich environment for scammers to exploit. In October and November of 2025, McAfee Labs observed a significant increase in scams imitating cloud service providers,” the company warns users.

These messages attempt to replicate familiar messages, like “Your account storage is full” or “Your password has expired” or “A file has been shared with you”, that users will always tap into as a habit – a simple sign in to an impersonated page will allow hackers access to cloud storage credentials (often worse, even your email and payment apps).

The report states, “Scams are becoming systemic, adaptive and embedded in the devices people use every day. Instead of relying on obvious warning signs, consumers are being asked to evaluate alerts, messages and signals that look and behave like the real thing. The conclusion for 2026 is simple: Scams will become harder to detect as they resemble trusted digital workflows that people use without thinking twice.” Are.”

In a broader context, India has implemented a number of measures over the past year as it grapples with a sharp increase in scam attempts on unsuspecting users. Telecom operators including Bharti Airtel followed by Reliance Jio and Vi have launched network-level spam detection for calls and messages to warn users. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed banks to adopt a secure numbering plan for official communications – they will now have to use the 1600 series for service and transaction communications and the 1400 series for promotional calls. In January, the Supreme Court directed the Department of Telecommunications to propose stricter SIM issuance norms to fight the rise in ‘digital arrest’ scams.

Overall, the data shows that the fight against scams is no longer one where ignorance is bliss. Even informed users are now being tested by communications that mirror legitimate messages or app notifications with almost perfect accuracy. While regulators, banks and telecom operators are tightening controls, the worrying reality is that fraud patterns are evolving faster than the security measures designed to prevent it.

For now, Indians have to navigate an internet where trust is lacking, and where every unknown notification demands a second look. At least for the moment, the burden rests with individuals, but for regulators and institutions, the challenge is not just to stop bad elements, but to create awareness and rebuild confidence.