US: 79% of consumers manifest concerns over online fraud

According to a joint research conducted by the US device identification services company ThreatMetrix and the research organization Ponemon Institute, called Mobile Payments & Online Shopping Survey of US consumers, 45 percent consumers have been the victim of online fraud, up from 42 percent recorded in a similar study in early 2011.

The study is focused on 4 different activities consumers engage in when making purchases online such as mobile payments, mobile banking, e-commerce, social network shopping and government payments.

As far as mobile payments are concerned 61 percent of the respondents involved in the study own a smartphone and 40 percent of these respondents pay bills using these devices. Online services most often used to make payments are PayPal (61 percent) and credit cards (53 percent). 84 percent of consumers have stated that a commitment to prevent fraud is either very important or important when selecting an online payment service provider.

The study has pointed out that nearly 1 in 3 consumers have indicated that fraud risk is lower on a smartphone or tablet than on a desktop or laptop computer. When asking the Elite group (consumers who are considered extremely active users of the internet) that number have increased to 39 percent.

When it comes to mobile banking 29 percent of the surveyed respondents use this payment method. Of these, 67 percent of consumers feel completely or partially protected. 51 percent use mobile banking because of convenience while 25 percent use it due to increased security. Consumers who do not engage in mobile banking, have answered it is because of diminished security (51 percent).

According to 67 percent of respondents, their online purchases on Cyber Monday and during the holiday season will either exceed in-store purchases (33 percent) or stay at the same level (34 percent). The most popular devices used are desktop or laptop computers (49 percent) or smartphones such as Androids, iPhones or Blackberry (37 percent).

The survey has indicated that the most popular purchases using a mobile payments option on a smartphone or tablet are music downloads (77 percent), online service subscriptions or memberships (75 percent) and apps for smartphone or tablets (73 percent), according to the survey results. Consumer electronics ranked slightly above clothing, at 48 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

More than half (51 percent) of respondents have mentioned that fraud risk is the same on a smartphone, tablet, desktop and laptop computer while 19 percent have mentioned that fraud risk is higher on a smartphone or tablet than on a desktop or laptop computer.

To protect themselves from online fraud and other abuses, 56 percent only use mobile banking applications that they trust, 55 percent know where their computer or mobile device is at all times, only shop at websites that they know and trust (52 percent) and only using a mobile device that is dependable and trusted.

Social networking shopping lags behind other online shopping venues. 32 percent of the surveyed consumers have browsed a company’s Facebook page and then purchased something on the company’s website. 20 percent have purchased something directly within Facebook. 53 percent of consumers do not believe that Facebook’s storefronts offer them protection against fraudsters and 23 percent are unsure. More than half (51 percent) have stated that Google is more effective than Facebook at protecting them from cyber killers.

Related to the government payments, 11 percent of respondents have made a mobile payment to the government. 37 percent have stated that they would never make a mobile payment to government and 10 percent are unsure. The main reason is that most (63 percent) feel more comfortable making a traditional payment such as a written cheque and 61 percent would like to have written proof when making payments to the government. 34 percent of consumers surveyed do not trust government to protect them from fraud and abuse when online or making mobile payments.

The study has been carried out on 722 US consumers who self-reported that they are active users of the internet. The respondents have been divided into two categories: the “Elite” group of respondents (219) which spends more than 20 hours online and does at least two of the following online activities: blogging, paying bills. This category of respondents represents 30 percent of the total respondents involved in the study. The other category is represented by the mainstream users of the internet and counts 503 respondents, meaning 70 percent of the total number of respondents.