Fidelity is warning about a wave of scams expected to cost consumers more than $15 billion in 2025. The firm's head of cyber defense, Sean Downey, highlighted how modern fraud schemes rely less on technical complexity and more on human response. Examples such as retired social worker Karen lost $3,600 in 20 minutes after responding to a routine bank alert. Despite prior warnings, the speed and realism of the interaction led to her costly mistake. Downey suggested that a 30-second delay from the scam could disrupt the script running against you. He also highlighted the importance of human response to the scam, not relying on technology. Consumers are reported losing over $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a 25% increase over the previous year.