Online fraud hits 1 in 8 UK residents

One in eight people living in the UK have been victims of internet fraud, with a total of £2.61bn stolen in the past year, a survey has revealed.

The online survey of more than 2,000 UK internet users found that.each victim lost an average of £460.

This comes despite claims that users are security conscious, with 82% of respondents claiming to buy only from websites with enhanced security settings.

The survey showed that the most common victims of fraud are those aged between 45 and 54, with 14% of victims in this age group. Londoners are the least concerned about security when buying online.

Two out of five Londoners said they did not bother to check whether a website had enhanced security settings before making a purchase.

The findings show that more education is needed on how online consumers can protect themselves, said internet infrastructure services firm VeriSign, which commissioned the survey.

“Research reveals that there is not a relationship between the number of people who check a website’s security and those who have been scammed,” said Martin Mackay, VeriSign’s vice-president of EMEA.

As part of a campaign to raise awareness around online fraud, the firm has launched the VeriSign UK Fraud Index, a biannual barometer of online fraud.

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