Gen Z most exposed to UK scam attempts, study finds

Gen Z consumers in the UK are reporting a sharper rise in financial scam attempts than other age groups. New research commissioned by emerchantpay found that 57% of people aged 18 to 29 had seen an increase over the past year.

Across all UK adults, half said scam attempts had increased over the same period. The findings suggest younger consumers are the group most exposed to attempted fraud, even though they show lower levels of caution in some online shopping situations than older age groups.

Among Gen Z respondents, 61% said they avoid making purchases from links sent via social media because of fraud concerns, compared with 86% of Boomers, defined in the research as people aged 62 to 80.

The figures align with wider evidence that online shopping is a common route for scams. Citizens Advice has identified online shopping as the "top trap" for scammers, with 26% of people deceived by fraudsters in the past year saying they were targeted while shopping online.

Artificial intelligence is also seen as changing the nature of scam attempts. Overall, 72% of consumers said AI is making fraud and scam attempts more convincing, while 56% said it is making potential scams harder to identify.

This reflects growing concern about the scale of online exposure. Research citing Revolut data said UK consumers were exposed to 95 billion scam adverts in 2025 alone.

Reporting gap

The study also found a strong sense of embarrassment around being defrauded, particularly among younger adults. More than half of Gen Z respondents, 54%, said they would worry about being judged if they fell victim to a scam, compared with 25% of Boomers.

Across the full sample, 60% of UK adults said they would feel embarrassed if they were caught by fraud or scams. That sentiment may contribute to lower reporting of smaller losses.

A quarter of Gen Z consumers said they would not report losing less than £100 to a scam. The equivalent figure was 17% among all adults and 6% among Boomers.

The survey suggests this reluctance could leave parts of the fraud picture under-recorded, especially when incidents involve relatively small sums but happen at scale. For businesses and payment providers, that adds to the challenge of tracking patterns of abuse and responding to new forms of deception.

"With AI significantly lowering the barrier for fraudsters to launch sophisticated scams at scale, the industry cannot rely on legacy fraud controls. Consumer protection frameworks need to evolve at the same pace as the fraud landscape," Alexander Berrai, Deputy CEO of emerchantpay, said.

Merchant pressure

The findings also underline the commercial pressure on merchants to reassure customers at the point of payment. Three-quarters of UK consumers, 75%, said security is their main priority when spending online.

For online sellers, fraud prevention is closely tied to customer confidence as well as transaction completion. Businesses that fail to provide payment processes customers see as secure risk losing sales and trust, particularly as scam tactics become more persuasive.

Emerchantpay argued that merchants should treat payments as a core part of their operating strategy rather than a back-office process. It said closer work with payment providers can help businesses keep pace with fraud trends and strengthen protections during transactions.

"Merchants must ensure they offer secure, well-managed payment options and embed effective fraud prevention directly into the transaction flow. Working closely with experienced payments partners is no longer optional - it is fundamental to protecting revenue and preserving consumer trust," Berrai said.

The research was carried out by Opinium among 2,000 UK adults and weighted to be nationally representative. Emerchantpay works with medium-sized and large businesses in sectors including travel, eCommerce, retail and financial services.