Malwarebytes Research: Gen Z Embraces AI, but Doesn't Trust the Internet It's Creating
New global study finds 70% of young adults ages 18 to 22 experienced an AI-related scam in the past year
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Seventy percent of young adults ages 18 to 22 experienced an AI-related scam in the past year, compared with half of the general population, according to new research from Malwarebytes, a global leader in real-time cyber protection. While young adults are among AI's earliest and most enthusiastic adopters, the research shows they are also among the most exposed to AI-powered scams, identity abuse, and online deception.
The study, which surveyed people across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, found that AI is changing more than how young people use the internet. It's changing whether they trust it.
"Young adults are embracing AI," said Mark Beare, Head of Consumer, Malwarebytes. "The problem is that scammers are embracing it, too. They're leveraging it to make scams more convincing, more personal, and much harder to spot. We're asking people to navigate an internet where seeing is no longer believing, and that's an impossible burden to place on individuals."
AI is making trust harder to earn
The research found that young adults are questioning what they see online as AI-generated content becomes more common.
- 50% strongly agree it's becoming harder to tell whether online content is real (versus 42% of the general population)
- 44% have encountered AI-generated information they later discovered was false or misleading (versus 30%)
- 47% say AI has changed how much they trust online reviews and content (versus 37%)
- 23% have suffered negative consequences because of AI advice (versus 16%)
- 18% say they have suffered emotionally from AI advice (versus 12%)
AI is turning identity into a target
For young people, AI is fueling a wave of scams that are more personal and invasive than ever before. These scams increasingly rely on publicly available information from social media to create convincing impersonations, cloned voices, fake images, and personalized threats.
- 24% of young people have been a victim of an extortion scam (versus 17% of the general population)
- 19% have been a victim of a deepfake or virtual kidnapping scam (versus 8%)
- 8% have been a victim of sextortion (versus 7%)
- 14% have been a victim of an impersonation scam (versus 10%)
- 12% have been a victim of a romance scam (versus 10%)
Young adults are responding by sharing less online, tightening privacy settings, and taking additional steps to protect themselves.
"Remembering to opt out of new features that may not preserve my privacy and fact checking everything can be exhausting," said Liz Wigglesworth, a malware research engineer at Malwarebytes who is part of Gen Z. "Even if it's something small like a silly cat video, there's always a part of my mind that's asking 'Is this real or is it AI? Am I about to share misinformation?' that feels necessary for navigating the internet these days."
Read the full research report alongside tips for staying safe: www.malwarebytes.com/blog/ai/2026/08/love-hate-relationship-the-ai-affair-young-people-love-ai-but-its-breaking-their-trust.
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About the research
The research is based on a March 2026 survey of 1,500 respondents across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The study compares adults ages 18 to 22 with the general population to examine how AI is affecting digital trust, identity, and online safety.
Additional context comes from Malwarebytes 2025 research Tap, Swipe, Scam: How Everyday Mobile Habits Carry Real Risk, which looked at mobile scams and scam-related behaviors across the same markets. Both research studies were prepared by an independent research consultant and distributed via Forsta.
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About Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes is reimagining security to safeguard devices, data, and people, no matter their location, lifestyle, or means. A global leader in online protection, its suite of award-winning cybersecurity, privacy, and identity solutions empower millions of people worldwide to enjoy their digital lives, free from threats and scams. Built and beloved by experts, Malwarebytes pairs a world-class team of threat researchers with proprietary AI-powered processes to supercharge and refine detections, providing unmatched protection against both known and unknown threats. Living up to its legacy, Malwarebytes continues to offer free tools that have long served as a first line of defense against malware and scams with new options for identity protection and data removal.
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