The rapid adoption of generative AI is expected to significantly accelerate cyber fraud and impersonation attacks in 2026, according to new research from the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The report suggests that while AI tools are driving productivity and innovation, they are also lowering the barriers for cybercriminals, enabling them to launch more sophisticated, scalable, and convincing attacks against both organisations and individuals.
The WEF survey found that cyber-enabled fraud is already widespread at senior leadership level. Around 73% of CEOs said that either they, or someone within their professional or personal network, had been affected by fraud in 2025. The most common types of incidents included phishing, vishing and smishing, which were experienced by 62% of respondents. Invoice and payment fraud was reported by 37%, while 32% said they had encountered identity theft.
The findings indicate a notable shift in executive priorities. While ransomware had dominated boardroom discussions in previous years, AI vulnerabilities and cyber-enabled fraud have now emerged as the leading concerns for business leaders, reflecting the growing impact of generative technologies on the threat landscape.
Konstantin Levinzon, co-founder of Planet VPN, said AI-related risks are also becoming a major issue for consumers. Data from the US Federal Trade Commission shows that in 2024, reported consumer fraud losses reached $12.5bn, representing a 25% year-on-year increase. Levinzon expects this figure to rise further as AI tools become more widely used by criminal networks.
“As businesses face challenges in protecting their networks, individual consumers are also seeing an increase in personal cybersecurity risks. Recent developments in generative AI are lowering the barriers to executing all kinds of attacks, while at the same time increasing their sophistication and making them appear more credible,” he says.
Concerns around identity theft are also growing. A separate report from Experian found that 68% of consumers now consider identity theft their biggest worry, followed by stolen credit card data at 61%. The findings reflect a broader sense of vulnerability among individuals as cybercrime becomes more automated, personalised, and harder to detect.
The WEF also highlights that generative AI disproportionately increases digital safety risks for certain groups, particularly children and women, who are more frequently targeted by impersonation scams and synthetic image abuse. The report suggests that deepfake technology and AI-generated content are making harassment and fraud both more accessible and more damaging.
Levinzon said that generative AI enables scammers to translate and localise social engineering attacks at scale, making impersonation campaigns far more convincing.
“Criminal networks that previously focused on a limited range of languages can now target populations all over the world with local languages. This expansion also speeds up the spread of AI-driven disinformation and makes it harder for platforms and regulators to protect users from coordinated manipulation,” he says.
Beyond the threat itself, the WEF report points to a persistent skills gap as one of the biggest challenges for organisations. Around 33% of companies in Europe and Central Asia and 35% in North America said they lack sufficient cybersecurity expertise. In Latin America and Africa, up to 70% of firms reported significant shortages of skilled professionals.
While AI tools could help address some of these gaps by automating routine security tasks, Levinzon warns that poor implementation may introduce new risks, including misconfiguration, biased decision-making, and over-reliance on automated systems.
“The most effective remedy for both direct customers and businesses is education. Well-informed employees and users are less likely to fall for scams, more likely to use unique passwords, and enable multi-factor authentication. Additionally, using a VPN should be a part of daily internet hygiene,” Levinzon concludes.
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