Twelve percent Britons fall prey to Internet Fraud - Survey

As more and more people are using the Web for researching product information or for actually making purchases online, the online fraud has become such an everyday occurrence. A UK government-backed survey has found that one in ten British users was a victim of online fraud in 2006.

The government report published Monday was based on survey of UK internet adult users, who number 29 million, and has been titled Internet Safety: The State of the Nation.

Conducted and devised by the UK government and industry online safety campaign, Get Safe Online together with the BBC News web site, the survey found that 12% or almost 3.5 million people had experienced online fraud in the last year, and lost an average of 1,716 U.S. dollar.

Out of the twelve per cent of Internet users, around 6% or 1.7 million people suffered fraud while shopping online, 5% or 1.5 million experienced another form of general online fraud and 4% or 1.2 million were subject to bank account or credit card fraud as a result of activity online. Some users were defrauded more than one of these.

Many of these victims had failed to follow basic precautions, such as installing up to date Internet security software or using different passwords for different sites.

"The internet is a fantastic resource and its use is growing daily. Unfortunately, it is now also being used by criminals who are out to defraud us," said Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online.

"If we all take greater care to protect our personal information online, we can reduce the majority of these criminal activities," he added.

In spite of growing concerns about Internet security, fewer than half (48%) of the 2,441 survey respondents to the Internet Safety believed that they were responsible for their own safety online, while one in six or 16% held their banks wholly responsible for their online protection, and 13% claimed that their internet service provider were responsible for stopping fraudsters.

The report found that 17 percent Internet users still have no antivirus software, and 22 percent aren't using a firewall. Furthermore, 20 percent had not updated their antivirus software in the previous month, while 23 percent had opened a file attached to an email from an unknown source, and more than half used the same password on multiple web sites, leaving themselves open and vulnerable to fraud.

When asked which two things they take most care to protect, internet users respond that they first look after their credit/ bank cards (56%) and their wallets (42%). Merely 9% take most care to protect their website password and 1% their email address.

According to the survey, 52 percent of the UK's 29 million adult Internet users bank online, 32 percent pay utility bills online and an amazing 23 percent buy groceries online.

"We need users to take the same basic precautions in using the internet as they would when making transactions in the high street – such as not sharing your bank details or passwords,” said Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office minister with responsibility for Transformational Government.

"This survey shows that, although the internet offers great opportunities for people to carry out their business when and how they like, people must also take care if we are to stop criminals abusing greater popular use of the net," he added.