Americans are spending more of their lives online than ever, according to a study from Datareportal.
People in the United States spend an average of seven hours and three minutes online every day—or about 18 years of their adult lives.
All that time on the internet leaves users vulnerable to scammers. Cybercrime is on the rise in the United States, spiking from 467,000 incidents in 2019 to more than 880,000 in 2023, according to Statista.
Phishing remains one of the largest security threats for both individuals and organizations. In the United States, law enforcement saw nearly 299,000 phishing reports in 2023.
More crime means greater financial losses. Monetary losses caused by cyber criminals rose from $3.5 billion in 2019 to $12.5 billion in 2023.
Online fraud tends to target older adults, taking advantage of their often limited tech skills. Individuals 60 years and older in the United States filed more than 104,000 cybercrime complaints in 2023, the highest of any age bracket.
Older adults also saw much higher financial losses due to cybercrime in 2023. Individuals 60 years and older lost $3.4 billion, while other age groups all had losses under $2 billion.
The slideshow above highlights eight ways people of any age can stay safer online, according to the FBI.
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