Compromised accounts and AI-generated impersonation are making familiar senders less reliable as proof that a message is genuine. The same trust that makes family conversations feel safe can also affect how closely people examine what gets shared.
A suspicious message can arrive from an account that appears legitimate. A profile may belong to someone the recipient knows, and a voice message may sound like a relative. As impersonation becomes more convincing, recognizing the apparent sender offers less certainty about who actually created the message.
New MyIQ data suggests that family relationships can influence how people respond to information before they have established where it came from.
MyIQ surveyed 12,684 adults across the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Latin America and the European Union. 44% said they are less suspicious of a link, warning or recommendation when it has been forwarded by someone in their family. Another 36% said they have initially trusted a message because they recognized the person who sent it.
The findings indicate that the identity of the sender can affect the scrutiny given to the content. Information passed along by a relative may benefit from an existing relationship even when the relative was not the original source and has not independently verified what they are sharing.
The difference becomes visible when respondents describe how they treat information from relatives compared with strangers. 23% said they had trusted information from a relative that they would have questioned if it had come from a stranger. Another 28% said they had forwarded something to family before checking whether it was genuine.
Forwarding can extend that initial trust to another recipient. The person receiving the message knows who sent it to them, but may know little about where the information originated or how carefully it was checked before reaching the family conversation.
Social dynamics can also influence when verification happens. 31% said they had privately checked a message shared by a relative only after another family member questioned it. 26% said they had avoided challenging a relative about a suspicious message because they did not want to create an argument.
Checking information shared by a parent, sibling or other relative can involve more than deciding whether the content looks credible. Disputing it may also mean correcting someone close to them or appearing to question that person's judgment. The survey suggests that, for some respondents, those considerations can delay scrutiny.
The research records self-reported behavior and does not establish whether any of these habits led to fraud, financial loss, or other harm. It captures an earlier point in the process: whether people decide that a message needs verification in the first place.
That point has become increasingly exposed as digital impersonation improves. Compromised accounts can place deceptive messages inside genuine conversations, while synthetic audio can make an unfamiliar request sound as though it came from someone the recipient knows. Familiarity with the apparent sender cannot establish the origin of the message itself.
The MyIQ data shows why family communication deserves attention within that shift. A substantial share of respondents reported applying less suspicion to information passed along by relatives, while others described forwarding material before checking it or hesitating to challenge questionable content.
The findings leave a practical distinction between personal trust and information credibility. Family relationships may influence the first impression a message receives, even though verifying its source still requires a separate judgment about the content and where it originated.
About MyIQ:
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories: cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories: cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.