Scammers are getting smarter about where they target you
Malwarebytes data shows scammers tailor fraud by platform: 90% of toll scams arrive via email/SMS and MrBeast is now the most impersonated person.
Malwarebytes threat research analyzed global scam data from April 15 to July 14, 2026, across more than 20 scam types, finding each type favors a specific channel such as email, SMS, phone, or social media. Roughly nine in ten toll scams arrive by email or text, about half of IRS scams come by phone, and MrBeast is impersonated in about 30% of impersonation scams. The most impersonated brands are Google, Microsoft, Apple, Roblox, and Amazon, and Malwarebytes blocks around 500,000 phishing websites daily. Gaming scams on Roblox, Steam, Discord, and Minecraft increasingly carry losses of $1,000 or more, with 15-19% activity spikes in mid-2026.
Split-second deepfake glitch blows digital certificate fraudster’s cover
Spanish police arrested a man who used deepfake video manipulation to bypass a certificate provider's identity checks and obtain digital signatures for financial fraud.
Spanish National Police arrested a man in Murcia accused of using deepfake software to pass an electronic certificate provider's video identity verification and obtain digital signatures usable in financial fraud. He made 38 attempts against more than 30 citizens using a forged national ID card, household spotlights with colored bulbs to simulate holograms, and VPNs to anonymize connections. Investigators traced more than 320 phone lines linked to 24 mobile devices, mostly registered with stolen identities; a momentary glitch in the digital mask during a live call exposed the scheme.