Online Scams Overtake Phishing in Detected Volume for the First Time

Scam detections double to 6.4 million

Bolster AI's research found that online scam detections approximately doubled from 3.2 million to 6.4 million during the reporting period. The data covers threat intelligence collected between July 2025 and June 2026. According to the report, scam detections surpassed traditional phishing for the first time in Q1 2026.

Bolster AI describes this as a shift toward direct financial fraud. The examples it names include counterfeit storefronts, investment scams and payment fraud. Rather than stealing credentials first, attackers are going after money more directly by exploiting the trust consumers place in legitimate brands.

"Credential theft remains a major threat, but attackers are increasingly exploiting the trust consumers place in legitimate brands to steal money directly," said Rod Schultz, CEO of Bolster AI.

Phishing is faster, not gone

The research also points to a change in how long phishing campaigns last. The average phishing attack lifespan declined from 48.3 days in Q4 2025 to just 22 days in Q2 2026, a reduction of more than 50%. Shorter lifespans leave security teams with less time to identify and disrupt malicious campaigns.

Bolster AI stresses that phishing is not disappearing. Its research found that phishing detections grew 61% by Q2 2026. The company reads this as evidence that cybercriminals are expanding their tactics instead of replacing existing ones.

The report highlights a third trend: fraud campaigns that span multiple digital channels. According to the research, attackers use AI-generated content, localized social engineering and shared infrastructure to operate across websites, social media, advertisements and other platforms. These tactics make coordinated fraud operations harder for security teams to identify and disrupt.

Threats beyond the enterprise perimeter

Bolster AI argues that fraudulent advertisements, counterfeit websites and impersonation campaigns can exploit legitimate brands without compromising their internal systems. Schultz said these campaigns "span websites, social media, advertisements, and digital marketplaces, creating risks that extend well beyond an organization's traditional security perimeter."

The company says the findings underscore the importance of connecting threats across digital channels and disrupting the infrastructure behind coordinated fraud campaigns, rather than responding to individual malicious websites in isolation.

Bolster AI's contribution to the report draws on its AI-powered threat detection, which, according to the company, analyzes millions of websites daily using models trained on more than 10 billion data points.

What it means for businesses

For security teams, the findings suggest that monitoring only their own systems may no longer be enough. Bolster AI says the results reinforce the need for greater visibility into threats outside enterprise infrastructure and a more connected approach to detecting and disrupting digital fraud.

"The future of cybersecurity isn't just about protecting the systems a business owns. It's about protecting the trust a business has earned," Schultz said.

Akamai's 2026 State of the Internet: Fraud and Abuse Report is available on Akamai's website. Akamai and Bolster AI are also hosting a webcast to discuss the findings.