Financial Industry Regulatory Authority foundation report finds only half of Americans identify identity-based fraud unprompted

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Investor Education Foundation published a report, prepared with RAND, finding material gaps in Americans’ top-of-mind awareness of financial fraud schemes. Based on a nationally representative survey of 1,509 U.S. adults, the study assessed what respondents could describe without prompts and found that even the most commonly cited category, identity-based fraud, was mentioned by only 50% of respondents, while other common fraud types were cited far less often. The report says these gaps may leave consumers more exposed as financial fraud losses approach USD 200 billion annually. Responses were grouped into five categories: consumer-based, opportunity-based, threat-based, imposter-based and identity-based fraud. Only 20% mentioned threat-based fraud, 17% opportunity-based fraud, 16% consumer-based fraud and 14% imposter-based fraud. Awareness also differed across groups, with adults under 40 less likely than older adults to mention consumer-based fraud, Hispanic respondents less likely than white respondents to mention identity-based fraud, and lower-income respondents less likely than those earning USD 50,000 or more to mention threat-based fraud. The survey also found a link between stronger financial literacy and greater awareness of nearly all fraud types, while respondents who mentioned threat-based fraud were less likely to report losing money to a scam.