July 31 (UPI) — Nearly three quarters of U.S. adults experience some kind of online scam or cyber attack every week, data from the Pew Research Center showed Thursday.

Most people receive scam calls, texts and emails at least weekly, the report said. Americans reported more than $16.6 billion in scam-related losses in 2024, the FBI said.

Many U.S. financial institutions, retail corporations and federal officials are raising the issue, warning consumers about the attacks and working to educate the public about ways to avoid them and steps to take if they fall victim.

“While Americans see older adults as more vulnerable to these crimes, significant portions of both older and younger adults have been scammed and targeted online,” the report said.

Nearly half of the respondents reported that online hackers made fraudulent charges on their credit or debit cards, the most common form of attack.

More than a third reported purchasing an item online that never arrived or that was a counterfeit item for which they never received a refund.

Nearly a third said personal information was hacked through a bank, social media, email or bank account, and a quarter of respondents said they received a scam text message or phone call that resulted in them providing personal information to a scammer.

People between 18 and 29 were the most frequent victims of the scams, the report continued.

Pew polled 9,397 adults between April 14 and 20.