Pro Security Tech Radar

Many workers are overconfident at spotting phishing attacks

March 17, 2025
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  • KnowBe4 surveyed employees around the world to gauge their confidence in spotting phishing
  • Many confident people have also fallen victim in the past
  • Education and transparency are key to combating phishing, researchers said

Despite being confident in their ability to spot phishing, many employees still fall for such scams, new research has claimed.

A report from KnowBe4 warns about “misplaced confidence” which can cause even more problems for businesses, showing almost all (86%) of respondents believe they can confidently identify phishing emails.

Yet more than half (53%) fell victim to some form of social engineering scams: 24% fell for a phishing attack, 17% were tricked by a social media scam, and 12% were tricked by a deepfake scam.

High confidence often leads to victimization

Employees in South Africa lead the way in both the highest confidence levels and highest scam victimization rate (68%), KnowBe4 explains, hinting that misplace confidence can create a false sense of security.

At the other end of the spectrum are UK employees, who reported the lowest scam victim rate (43%). However, this figure too is down 5% compared to 2021, indicating that vulnerability is rising even in regions with historically high confidence levels.

Training is paramount to combating phishing and social engineering, KnowBe4 says, adding that “fostering a transparent security culture” is equally important. While more than half (56%) of employees feel “very comfortable” reporting security concerns, 1 in 10 still hesitate, either out of fear, or uncertainty.

“The Dunning-Kruger effect, which is a cognitive bias where people overestimate their ability, is alive and well in cybersecurity,” commented Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4.

“This overconfidence fosters a dangerous blind spot - employees assume they are scam-savvy when, in reality, cybercriminals can exploit more than 30 susceptibility factors, including psychological and cognitive biases, situational awareness gaps, behavioral tendencies, and even demographic traits.”

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