Crooks prey on young online
ONE in 10 Australian internet users – more than 1.3 million people – lost an average of $1000 each to cyber criminals in the past 12 months.
Crooks used online identity fraud to fleece victims of $1.286 billion in the past year, the VeriSign Online Fraud Barometer compiled by Galaxy Research revealed.
More than $200 million is yet to be recovered. Fraudulent emails and websites were the most likely source of identity theft, with 60 per cent of Australians exposed to at least one in the past year.
The study also found web surfers’ complacency played a large part in cyber criminals’ success, with many people admitting they didn’t check security measures when providing sensitive information such as banking or credit card details online.
The most careless about online security were 18 to 24-year-olds. More than 69 per cent of this group admitted not checking if a website was safe before handing over the keys to their online identity.
Full Story: Herald Sun
