Indians more vulnerable to tech support scams, says Microsoft report



Indians are more vulnerable to technology support-related scams compared to the global average, and lost over Rs 15,000 on average in such scams, a Microsoft research has found.

According to the 2021 Global Tech Support Scam Research report, which looks at tech support scams and their impact on consumers, consumers in India experienced a relatively high scam encounter rate of 69 per cent during the past 12 months, close to the 70 per cent rate experienced in 2018. In contrast, there was an overall five-point drop in scam encounters globally with a rate of 59 per cent over the same period.

The survey was conducted in Spring 2021 and asked consumers to share their experiences with tech support scams for the year prior (January 2020 to present).

Almost half the consumers surveyed in India (48 per cent) were tricked into continuing with the scam – an eight-point increase from 2018, and three times higher than the global average of 16 per cent. One in three (31 per cent) of those surveyed continued engaging and eventually lost money--an increase of 17 points over 2018 (14 per cent).

In India, millennials, or those aged 24-37, were the most susceptible to such scams in 2021, with 58 per cent of those that continued with the scam incurring monetary loss. The research also found that 73 per cent of males in India who proceeded to interact with a scammer were likely to lose money.

Each month, Microsoft receives about 6,500 complaints globally from people who have fallen victim to a tech support scam; this is down from 13,000 reports in an average month in earlier years. To better understand how the problem with tech support scams is evolving globally and to enhance efforts to educate consumers on how to stay safe online, Microsoft commissioned YouGov for this global survey in 16 countries, including four Asia Pacific markets – India, Australia, Japan and Singapore. This is a follow-up to similar surveys that Microsoft conducted in 2018 and 2016.

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