When the Digital World Turns More Dangerous: Why It's Time to Champion Cyber Safety

Cybercrime is no longer limited to enterprise breaches. It's a daily threat and can impact employers even when it happens off the clock.

In the time it takes to scroll through your morning emails, another employee has just become a victim of cybercrime. The threat isn’t theoretical anymore. It can be personal, persistent, and pervasive, and can disrupt the lives and productivity of employees across industries.

Cybercrime is no longer limited to enterprise breaches. It’s evolved into a daily threat targeting individuals and families through phishing scams, fraudulent online offers, cyberbullying, and ransomware attacks. And while it may happen off the clock, the impact often follows employees into the workplace.

Online Scams Are Surging, and So Are Employee Risks

According to Bankrate, 68% of Americans have experienced a financial scam, and nearly half were scammed more than once in the last two years.¹  These attacks often arrive through phishing emails, scam texts, or fraudulent ads, and they can be financially and emotionally devastating.

In 2024 alone, Americans lost $22 billion to scams, with some victims losing up to $40,000.⁴ Alarmingly, 46% of scam victims never receive any reimbursement.⁵ The emotional toll often includes stress, guilt, and embarrassment, all of which can affect performance and wellbeing at work.

Most common tactics include:

  • Phishing emails from "trusted" sources

  • Fake customer support calls

  • Social media ads for fraudulent products

  • Spoofed travel and job websites

What It Looks Like in Real Life

Romance Scam Costs U.S. Consumers $823 Million

Fraudsters build emotional connections through dating apps and social platforms before requesting money. The FTC reported that romance scams topped $823 million in losses last year.⁵

Arizona Soccer Coach Loses Life Savings

Robby Jacobs, 26, received a text about a suspicious transaction, followed by a convincing phone call from someone posing as a bank rep. He was guided to transfer $30,000 to a "safe" account—and lost everything.⁵

AI Voice Cloning Targets Grandparents

In Long Island, scammers mimicked a woman's granddaughter using AI voice cloning and social media samples. The grandmother sent thousands before learning it was a scam.

Online Dating Scheme Robs Retiree

Brian Ketcham, an 80-year-old widower, spent over $45,000 on dating site chat credits and gifts for fake profiles posing as romantic partners.⁵

Cyberbullying: A Hidden Workplace Issue

Cyberbullying isn't just a schoolyard issue anymore. With children spending 4-6 hours online daily and teens even more, bullying often takes place through anonymous posts, viral videos, or toxic group chats. According to Pew Research, 50% of teens report being bullied or harassed online.7 These issues often impact parents in your workforce, especially those trying to support struggling children.

A 2023 study showed that 26.5% of students had been bullied online within the past month. These emotional stressors directly affect employee focus, attendance, and long-term wellbeing.7

Ransomware & Cyber Extortion: Now a Personal Threat

Once seen as a business threat, ransomware now targets individuals and families. Criminals lock victims out of their own devices or threaten to leak sensitive files unless a ransom is paid.

According to the FBI’s 2024 IC3 report, cyber extortion losses reached $91.9 million. Ransom demands an average of $500 to $5,000, but even payment doesn’t guarantee recovery.8 The emotional toll? Panic, shame, and helplessness.

The Potential Cost to Employers

It’s not just the victim who suffers. These incidents can often create:

  • Missed work and absenteeism

  • Distracted or disengaged employees

  • Financial distress that impacts morale

According to WTW’s 2024 U.S. Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey, 57% of employers list financial wellbeing as their top concern.³ But few are addressing how online crime contributes to financial vulnerability.

Deepfake Deception: A New Frontier

AI-generated voice and video fraud has exploded. In fact, deepfake fraud rose 1,740% in North America between 2022 and 2023, according to Security.org. And 43% of finance professionals say they’ve already fallen for a deepfake scam.10

These threats affect more than IT. They can compromise trust, identity, and employee security, and they’re getting harder to detect.

How Employers and Brokers Can Help Lead

With more than 7 hours of daily screen time and blurred work-life boundaries, employees and their families are often more exposed than ever. But education, identification, and protection can help make a difference.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Offer smarter benefits that include identity and cybercrime protection—not just alerts, but real financial reimbursement.

  • Use open enrollment as an opportunity to help educate employees about online risks.

  • Work with providers that offer turnkey education, expert resolution, and real recovery support.

How Equifax can help

With scams and cyber threats on the rise, ID Watchdog’s Identity Theft Protection with Cyber Crime Coverage offers a more modern solution:

  • This coverage is included in eligible plans at no additional cost

  • No separate activation required

  • Reimbursement for covered cyber losses like online scams, ransomware, and cyberbullying

It’s not just about more protection. It’s also about greater peace of mind.

Ready to Help Strengthen Your Workforce's Digital Resilience?

Let’s talk about how you can better empower your employees with protection that supports their lives better inside and outside of work.

Contact us today to learn how ID Watchdog’s Identity Theft Protection solutions can become part of your workplace wellness and security strategy.

Sources:

[1] Bankrate.com, March 2025

 https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/financial-fraud-survey/

[2] Javelin & BioCatch, Aug 2024

 https://www.biocatch.com/white-paper-emotional-undercurrent-financial-scams

[3] WTW Wellbeing Survey, Aug 2024 https://www.wtwco.com/en-us/insights/2024/08/financial-wellbeing-is-the-top-challenge-faced-by-us-employees

[4] Javelin Identity Fraud Study, March 2025

 https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/javelin-identity-theft-report-2024.html

[5] PYMNTS Intelligence, Oct 2024 https://www.pymnts.com/news/fraud/2024/consumer-banking-report-financial-scam-victims-lack-reimbursement/

[6] Fortune, March 2024

 https://fortune.com/well/article/screen-time-over-lifespan/

[7] AACAP, May 2024 https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watching-TV-054.aspx

[8] FBI IC3 Report, April 2025

 https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf

[9] Security.org, 2024

 https://www.security.org/resources/deepfake-statistics/

[10]IBM Think, 2024 https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/are-successful-deepfake-scams-more-common-than-we-realize/

The information provided is intended as general guidance and is not intended to convey any tax, benefits, or legal advice. For information pertaining to your company and its specific facts and needs, please consult your own tax advisor or legal counsel. Equifax Workforce Solutions provides services that can help employers reduce their compliance risks. Details on our provision of these services and related support will be contained in your services agreement. Links to sources may be to third party sites. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.