Malwarebytes Data Shows Scam Texts Peak on Fridays and Around Midday
Summary
Malwarebytes analyzed threat data from April 15 to July 14, 2026, finding scams vary by platform, web leads as a delivery method, and scam texts peak around noon ET and on Fridays.
Key points
- Malwarebytes’ analysis covered more than 20 scam categories using data collected from April 15 to July 14, 2026.
- Web was the leading scam delivery method, ahead of email and SMS.
- Scam texts peaked around 12:00 pm ET, about 874% above the quietest hour, and were about 50% higher on Friday than at the start of the week.
- MrBeast was the most impersonated person in Malwarebytes’ data; his likeness appeared in about 30% of impersonation scams.
- Google, Microsoft, Apple, Roblox, and Amazon were the most impersonated brands; Google’s name was abused at least twice as often as Amazon’s.
- Roblox, Steam, Discord, and Minecraft were the most impersonated gaming platforms. Roblox scam activity rose 15% and Steam’s rose 19% between mid-June and mid-July.
Article Details
- Publisher
- Help Net Security
- Report Period
- 2026-04-15 to 2026-07-14
- Scope
- Malwarebytes threat data on more than 20 scam categories and scam delivery platforms, impersonation, and timing.
- Key Statistics
- Malwarebytes says it blocks around 500,000 phishing sites a day.
- MrBeast appears in about 30% of impersonation scams in the data.
- Scam-text volume at 12:00 pm ET is about 874% higher than at 1:00 am ET.
- Friday has about 50% more fraudulent texts than the start of the week.
- Roblox scam activity rose 15% and Steam scam activity rose 19% from mid-June to mid-July 2026.