The plague of online fraud scares us more than losing our jobs

Data from the Ministry of Digitization leave no doubts about the state of security on the Polish Internet. By December 2025, over 222,000 incidents were recorded. This result is twice as high as the year before. These statistics confirm the activities of the CERT Polska team. Over the course of eleven months, experts blocked as many as 1.8 million SMS messages that were attempted fraud.

Attacks are no longer the work of individual hackers. Currently, organized criminal groups are behind them. They operate in a mass and automated manner. They use repetitive schemes that aim to extort data or funds from as many victims as possible.

The increasing number of attacks influenced public sentiment. The study conducted for the ChronPESEL.pl website and the National Debt Register shows a change in Poles’ priorities. As many as 28% of respondents are afraid of losing money as a result of cybercriminals. This risk is seen as more serious than not having savings or losing a job.

There are only two factors higher on the list of fears. The first is inflationwhich it points to 57% of respondents. The second are sudden and large expensessuch as treatment or renovation costs. Cybersecurity has therefore become one of the key elements of household financial stability.

The sense of threat is not evenly distributed in society. They declare their greatest fears elderly people. The group over 65 years of age is afraid of fraudsters 39% of respondents. Among young people aged 18-24, this percentage is: 21%. The younger generation feels more confident in the digital world, but this does not always translate into security.

Criminals are modifying their methods and are increasingly willing to use modern technologies. They use artificial intelligence to create reliable traps. Spoofing phone numbers Whether voice manipulation make it difficult to distinguish a fraudster from a bank employee.

Cybercriminals attack systems less and less often, and people more often. They impersonate banks, offices or even relatives, taking advantage of time pressure and the fear of losing money. In 2026, there will be more such trials and their credibility will increase.

Forecasts for 2026 are not optimistic. Experts predict further increase in the number of fraud attempts. The pressure is now on large institutions. Banks and telecommunications operators must implement more effective mechanisms for blocking suspicious transactions and messages. Personal data protection is becoming a system requirement.

Mass service providers can block suspicious transactions, verify reports and improve security systems, but the final decision almost always rests with the user. Cybercriminals increasingly rely on manipulation rather than technical vulnerabilities in systems. Therefore, even the best procedures do not exempt customers from exercising caution and common sense.