64pc of adults in Ireland experienced phishing scams, while 22pc have had their credit card or bank account hacked.
A global market research survey of nearly 34,000 respondents has revealed that Ireland has the highest rates of phishing globally.
The Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN) released its 2024 findings last Friday (27 September) which showed that 64pc of Irish adults have experienced phishing – significantly higher than the global average of 34pc.
Phishing is a cyberattack where an attacker impersonates legitimate entities through email, phone or text messages, with the goal of getting sensitive information.
The number of phishing victims in Ireland have risen across all demographics since the last survey in 2022, with notable examples such as a 7pc increase among women and an 8pc increase in Dublin residents.
The Irish numbers are closely followed by Greece with 63pc of adults and Canada with 61pc of adults experiencing phishing.
Many Irish adults have also reported falling victim to other types of cyberattacks. More than one in five (22pc) Irish adults surveyed had their credit card or bank account hacked, while more than one in 10 (13pc) had their emails hacked.
The WIN also found that 55pc of Irish adults have been spammed by companies, a jump from 48pc in 2022. Women were spammed 10pc more since 2022, while people aged 55 and older were spammed 11pc more.
A new survey question around financial literacy showed that 67pc of Irish people are concerned about sharing their personal financial data – significantly higher than the global average of 48pc.
However, that is shadowed by the fact that only 23pc are aware of what happens to their personal data once its shared with a data collector.
“It is truly alarming to see that Ireland ranks as the number one country globally for phishing activity, especially when compared to significantly lower incident rates among several of our European counterparts,” said Ciara Reilly, group director at Red C Research, the Irish members of the WIN network.
“This highlights an urgent need for immediate government intervention to enhance cybersecurity measures and educate the Irish public on safe data usage practices.
“With a general election on the cards, it will be interesting to see if cybersecurity makes its way onto party manifestos, or if it will remain confined to the sidelines.”
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