Email Scams, Phishing Widespread in Britain, Canada and U.S.
Practically one-in-five respondents in the three countries admit their email address has been hacked.
Polls RSS
(10/04/12) -
More than four-in-five people in Britain, Canada and the United States have endured email scams, phishing, viruses and even hacking when they use computers, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of representative national samples, practically two thirds of respondents in the three countries (68% in the United States, 65% in Canada and 64% in Britain) say they have received an email offering them money for help or assistance.
A sizeable majority (64% in Britain, 59% in Canada and 57% in the United States) have received a “phishing” email, where somebody attempted to acquire personal information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity.
Canadians (51%) were more likely to see their computers become infected with a virus while they were browsing the Internet than Americans (46%) and Britons (42%). About one-in-five respondents (21% in Canada and the U.S., and 18% in Britain) have had their email address hacked, and roughly one-in-ten (13% of Americans, 10% of Canadians and 7% of Britons) have had their social media platform hacked. Only 15 per cent of respondents in the three countries say they have not had to deal with any of the five problems tested in the survey.
American respondents are more concerned about privacy than Canadians and Britons, with three-in-five (60%) saying they “frequently” or “occasionally” have worried about computers and technology being used to invade their privacy (compared to 43% in Canada and 42% in Britain). A majority of respondents in the United States (53%) have also been concerned over somebody hacking into their computer or smartphone (compared with 38% in Canada and 37% in Britain).
Canadians are more at ease doing their banking online (80%) than Britons (77%) and Americans (73%). People in Britain lead the way in online shopping, with 90 per cent saying they are “very comfortable” or “moderately comfortable” performing this task online, compared to 83 per cent of Americans and 73 per cent of Canadians.
Most respondents in the three countries say they are comfortable making charitable donations online and commenting on online forums that require their email address.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology – Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among:
- 1,002 American adults who are Springboard America panelists, from September 4 to September 5, 2012.
- 2,008 British adults who are Springboard UK panelists, from August 23 to August 24, 2012.
- 1,000 Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists, from August 21 to August 22, 2012.
The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/-2.2% for Great Britain, +/-2.5% for Canada, and +/-3.1% for the United States. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of each country.
