Irresponsible actions lead to online crime

Too many people do not take their online safety seriously enough claims an internet safety organisation.

In a report conducted by Get Safe Online and YouGov, fewer than half of the 2,441 adults surveyed felt responsible for their online protection. Just under a quarter pushed the responsibility onto their service provider and one in six said the responsibility fell with their banks.

This, said the organisation, is worrying. “People are not taking their online responsibilities seriously," said Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online.

“People do not put a builder in charge of their housing security because he built it or blame a double glazer for a house break in, so why should it be any different online? People must begin to take the same precautions online as they do in the physical world,” he said.

When asked which two things they take most care to protect, over half said their credit and bank cards and just under that amount said it was their wallets.

This was a big difference to the nine per cent who take most care to protect their website password and the one per cent who protected their email address. A fifth also admitted to using one password for all sites

This is something that Garreth Griffith, head of Trust and Safety at eBay, which has been working closely with Get safe online, said has to change.

“You wouldn’t give a stranger the key to your front door, but this is the situation many people unknowingly find themselves in with the more sophisticated forms of online fraud,” he said.

The survey found that just over a tenth of internet users had experienced online fraud in the last year. In that time, six per cent suffered fraud while shopping online. A fifth experienced another form of general online fraud and four per cent were subject to bank account or credit card fraud as a result of activity online.

“Although many organisations will provide a means to recover lost money, ultimately there are simple steps people can take that can reduce the risks in the first place,” said Griffith

Using eBay as an example, he encouraged users to visit the Safety Centre, which includes advice and tools to help trade safely on the site.

“By taking a bit more responsibility and making sure they access sites with a HTTP code at the beginning of the URL and never clicking on links in an email people can ensure they take a few steps to protect themselves,” said Neate.