Over one in five (22%) people have fallen victim to fraudsters when shopping online, according to new findings from secure payments solution Shieldpay. This equates to some 11.5 million1 Brits who have, at some point in their lives, been defrauded when purchasing an item online.
The cost to people’s pocket is significant: on average UK shoppers are defrauded by £683 with 1 in 10 (11%) losing more than £1,000. For those who have been a targeted more than once, the value jumps to £1,460, more than double that lost by people who have been defrauded just once.
Online fraud is often associated with older members of society, but the Fraud Tracker research shows it’s actually younger generations who are frequently targeted and defrauded by larger sums. A quarter (25%) of millennials, those aged 18-34, have been defrauded while shopping online at an average cost of £767 and nearly one in six (16%) have handed over more than £1,000 to fraudsters.
Indeed, research by Lloyds Bank published last month revealed millennials are falling victim to all types of online fraud at a greater rate than any other age group.
Shieldpay’s patent pending payments process mitigates the risk of online shopping fraud by fully verifying the identity of all parties, holding funds securely and only releasing them once both parties confirm they are happy.
