Half of Americans Unsure of Online Shopping Safety

Only half of American consumers claim they can determine the safety and legitimacy of online shopping sites, discovered a new survey conducted by the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) ahead of Cyber Monday.

More than one-third (35%) of the 1,019 respondents say they have stopped online purchases due to security concerns. Fear of being scammed causes 27% of consumers to excessively worry and 12% to lose sleep. Sixty percent have had their machine infected with malware.

The season of giving is also a season of scamming for cybercriminals, who launch more fake websites during the holiday shopping period than any other time of year. Nearly 119,000 unique phishing sites were detected in November 2016, targeting more than 300 brands. The most "spoof-able" sites are Amazon (82%), Walmart (36%), and Target (20%).

Scammers commonly trick victims by designing websites that look like legitimate brand sites but have a different IP address. GCA found nearly 77% of consumers have mistyped a Web address into their browser or clicked a suspicious link, both of which could lead to fake sites.

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