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Brits are better than Americans at spotting phishing scams, NordVPN study shows

AnyFans 2025-09-18

By Monica J. White

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Brits are better than Americans at spotting phishing scams, NordVPN study shows

Monica J. White

17 September 2025

The privacy risks of using AI at work are still a mystery for most

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The UK ranks best among English-speaking countries for awareness of how to identify a phishing website
By contrast, only 31% of respondents from the US were able to correctly spot such phishing attempts
While the UK leads the charge in spotting phishing scams, awareness of AI privacy issues is at a mere 5%

In a survey of 30,792 participants from 185 countries, the UK turned out to be the best English-speaking country at identifying phishing websites.

Overall, the UK ranks 5th globally in the annual National Privacy Test. The test takes into consideration things such as knowing how a device can be infected with malware or knowing how to craft a strong password. It was carried out by NordVPN, which is one of the best VPN providers according to our testing.
Although Brits are great at spotting phishing scams, a few key areas still need improvement, such as knowing which online tools to use to protect their digital privacy or knowing where to store their passwords.

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Meanwhile, the US is tied with Germany at 4th place with a score of 59. Lithuania leads the ranking, scoring 62 out of 100.
Among all respondents, AI at work remains the biggest blind spot. Globally, only 6% of people surveyed answered correctly on privacy issues of using AI for work. Both the US and the UK scored 5% here, slightly behind the global average.
While Brits do a great job of knowing how to craft a strong password (96%), knowing how to store it is another thing entirely. Only 21% of respondents knew how to store their passwords safely. That’s another thing that can be made safer with a tool, such as one of the best password managers.
Similarly, NordVPN marked “online tools that protect digital privacy” as one of the areas in need of improvement for the UK, with only 32% of respondents passing that part of the test. Using a secure VPN service will go a long way toward shielding your privacy from cybersecurity threats.
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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Monica J. White

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Contributing Writer

Monica is a tech journalist with over a decade of experience. She writes about the latest developments in computing, which means anything from computer chips made out of paper to cutting-edge desktop processors.
GPUs are her main area of interest, and nothing thrills her quite like that time every couple of years when new graphics cards hit the market.
She built her first PC nearly 20 years ago, and dozens of builds later, she’s always planning out her next build (or helping her friends with theirs). During her career, Monica has written for many tech-centric outlets, including Digital Trends, SlashGear, WePC, and Tom’s Hardware.

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