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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