A study finds that around 62 percent of Indians have faced online shopping scams during the festive season. The poll, which examined views toward cyber security and online shopping over the holiday season, was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock, a global leader in cyber safety, and the results for India were made public.
The report is based on an online survey of 1,001 Indian adults aged 18+, which was conducted between August 15, 2022, and September 1, 2022. When it was necessary, survey data were weighted to match their actual proportions in the population. Users in India were weighted based on the population of online users.
This survey serves as an illustration of the need for internet shoppers to exercise caution. One should be extra cautious whenever someone submits payment information on a website, since that information may be monitored and harvested by hackers.
The convenience that online shopping affords comes with its own set of problems. According to the report, "60% of Indian adults surveyed admit to taking more risks when online shopping during the gift-giving season than at other times of the year."
Online shopping fraud has become a global problem now. Every country where markets are going online is now a target of these scammers.
To counter online shopping fraud in the UK, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority also recently said that social media firms must do more to stop advertising "dodgy financial promotions" that fuel a surge in fraud or face action.
Since September 6, this year, Google has prohibited investment advertisements that are not FCA-authorised (including for gold and cryptocurrencies. The tech firms have said they are investing in fraud prevention and collaborating with the government and regulators.
