Malicious attacks against consumers on a major shopping day like Cyber Monday increase by 40% and this year’s shopping holiday will be no different.
Last year’s Cyber Monday was the single biggest shopping day in the history of U.S. e-commerce, with a record $3.39 billion spent online. It was also the day consumers saw malicious attacks increase by nearly 40%, which means online shoppers have to be more vigilant than ever to ensure the safety of their personal information and payment accounts.
A new report from OpenVPN has analyzed risk trends by delving into cybercrime activity reported to the FBI and CSN in 2015 and 2016, with a focus on internet crime, fraud and identity theft. The research threw up valuable insight, such as the most targeted states, the number of victims, the kind of victims both in sex and age, as well as the money lost in cybercrime.
For instance, men fell victim to cybercrime more than 75% in comparison to women due to the former’s larger online spending habits. Further, shoppers over the age of 50 are more likely to fall victim to attacks in at least 30 states, the report revealed.
An infographic of the state-by-state breakdown can be found below:
The following are the top 10 states struck by cybercrime in 2016. The data is taken from the FBI’s IC4 and CSN reporting databases. States are ranked form most victims, money lost to crime, the most victimized sex and age groups, as deciphered by TechRepublic.
- California
Money lost to internet crime: $255,181,657
Number of victims: 47,077
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 40-49
- Florida
Money lost to internet crime: $88,841,178
Number of victims: 324,569
Most victimized sex: Women
Most victimized age: 60+
- Nevada
Money lost to internet crime: $15,246,405
Number of victims: 33,404
Most victimized sex: Women
Most victimized age: 40-49
- Texas
Money lost to internet crime: $77,135,765
Number of victims: 320,002
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 30-39
- New Mexico
Money lost to internet crime: $870,165
Number of victims: 17,618
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 60+
- New York
Money lost to internet crime: $106,225,695
Number of victims: 148,637
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 30-39
- Arizona
Money lost to internet crime: $20,567,423
Number of victims: 60,625
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 60+
- Virginia
Money lost to internet crime: $49,175,677
Number of victims: 75,831
Most victimized sex: Women
Most victimized age: 50-59
- Colorado
Money lost to internet crime: $30,893,224
Number of victims: 46,795
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 50-59
- Washington
Money lost to internet crime: $25,728,634
Number of victims: 55,607
Most victimized sex: Men
Most victimized age: 60+
Image credit: Pixabay.
