- Hundreds of thousands of phishing emails are anime theme
- The victims are mostly Gen Z’s
- Anime has never been so popular
Hackers are increasingly explaining malware as anime, taking advantage of the increasing popularity of the Japanese animation format.
This is according to cyber security researchers Kaspersky, who analyzed phishing attacks that occurred between the 2nd quarter of 2024 and Q1 2025, and found that more than 250,000 were anime theme.
Anime is a style of animated entertainment that was first made in Japan. It spans TV series, movies and other adjacent formats. Kaspersky claims that the format has never been as popular as it is today, among Gen Z’s (those born about the early 2000s).
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Apparently, two -thirds of the generation (65%) see regular anime, which has never been the case before. Not only that, but they also “connect to the characters,” the researcher said and gets “emotionally invested” in the show.
It makes them quite susceptible to anime-themed phishing. Naruto Seems to be the biggest choice among threat actors with approx. 114,000 attempts at attack. Demon Slayer was number two with 44,000, followed by Attacks on TitanAt A pieceand Jujutsu Kaisen.
The criminals usually promise “exclusive episodes”, “leaked scenes” or “Premium Access” to get the victims to click on links, download malware, or share sensitive information.
While anime is definitely working well, it’s not the only thing hackers use to target Gen Z’s. ShrekAt Stranger ThingsAt TwilightAt Inside outand Deadpool & Wolverineare all popular choices that account for more than 43,000 attack attempts. There was also a remarkable increase in early 2025 that coincided with the latest release of the Shrek trailer.
As usual, Kaspersky all warns that things that sound too good to be true – usually ends up being just that. Those interested in watching the latest shows must sign up for well -established, reputable streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu or Disney+, and not resort to pirated or otherwise questionable sources.
