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Cyber Crimes

11 Jul 2017

Q. Have you ever been the victim of any of the following crimes?

  Total   Men Women Aged
18-34
Aged 35-54 Aged 55+ Oct 2012
Had a computer virus that damaged your computer or data 33%   34% 31% 35% 37% 24% 29%
Had your credit card number stolen 22%   19% 24% 19% 26% 20% 16%
Been the victim of online fraud 14%   15% 12% 15% 13% 13% 10%
Cyber bullying 10%   8% 12% 20% 8% 2% 3%
Online stalking, invasion of privacy or high levels of harassment 9%   8% 11% 16% 8% 2% 4%
Had your identity stolen 6%   6% 6% 9% 5% 4% 1%
No, none of them 50%   51% 50% 47% 49% 56% 56%

33% say they have had a computer virus that caused damage to their computer or data, 22% have had their credit card number stolen, and 14% have been the victim of online fraud. The incidence of each type of crime has risen by at least 4% since this question was last asked in October 2012. The proportion who have not experienced any of these types of crime fell 6% to 50%.

Those aged under 35 are more likely than other age groups to have been a victim of each type of crime, other than credit card theft and a computer virus.

Women are more likely than men to have been a victim of credit card theft (24% to 19%), cyber bullying (12% to 8%) and online stalking (11% to 8%), while men were more likely than women to get a computer virus (34% to 31%) and fall victim to online fraud (15% to 12%).

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