OLX fraud survey: 75% respondents faced online frauds during Covid-19 pandemic

tech.hindustantimes.com:

As we enter the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the dependence on internet usage in India continues to show an increasing trend. Unfortunately, the same applies to the rise in online frauds. There is a big concern about the state of safety of data in the wake of steadily increasing cybercrimes. From banking frauds, OTP/ATM frauds, fake news to stalking or bullying of women, data theft and much more, online frauds and crimes have increased significantly. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) CRIME IN INDIA 2020; VOL II released in September 2021, India recorded 50,035 cases of cybercrime with a 11.8 percent increase over the previous year. The rate of cyber crimes (incidents per lakh population) also surged from 3.3 in 2019 to 3.7 in 2020. The recent OLX fraud survey shows the extent of cybercrime in India.

The fourth edition of the OLX initiative, the OLX 2022 Safer Internet Day Study has revealed that over three-fourths of all respondents experienced at least one online fraud during the pandemic. Within this, financial frauds topped the list, with half (47%) of all respondents having faced it. Online shopping stands out as the top activity that makes respondents feel most vulnerable or unsafe on the Internet (36%), followed by use of social media (20%). In the age group of 50 and above, online content consumption is cited as potentially unsafe by 1 in 5 respondents (19%).

While instances of fraud have increased, users perceive that their own awareness towards online safety has also increased. During the continuing pandemic, over 3 in 5 respondents believe that their online safety awareness has gone up during the pandemic. Among those aged 50 and above, safety awareness has improved for 2 in 3 respondents.

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