Every year, thousands of Internet users become victims of financial cybercrimes that leave them with empty pockets. Research of Kaspersky Lab reveals that more than half of Internet users (52%) who have been the victim of Internet frauds and have lost money from cyber criminals have managed to take back only a small part of that money, or even nothing.
With the variety and complexity of financial threats to consumers constantly increasing, the losses of online fraud, personal identity theft and hacking are now running at rates billion per year. And as many instances do not refer to the authorities, the real economic cost is estimated to be significantly higher.
Research reveals how costly these are after all attacks for internet victims and how lucrative they have become for cybercriminals. On average, Internet users lose $476 dollars per attack and one in ten people respondents reported losing more than $5.000 in one or more attacks.
A large majority of internet users say they conduct financial transactions online (81%) and just under half of users (44%) store their financial information on their smart devices. As more and more users now go online to manage their finances, most cybercriminals are looking for opportunities to cash in instantly, making it important for users to have strong internet security to protect themselves and their money. However, only 60% of internet users protect all the devices they use to manage their financial data.
Attitudes regarding Internet security can be influenced by users who mistakenly believe that if they lose money in a transaction, it will be immediately returned to them by financial institutions. Almost half (45%) admit they believe they will be compensated by banks for financial cybercrime, with no problem, but the survey shows that more than half (52%) of those who have reported a monetary loss have not received all of their stolen money back.
"Cyber criminals are constantly looking for new ways to trick and exploit consumers and that's why it's very important for Internet users to be on the alert at all times, says Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky, Head of the Anti-Malware of Kaspersky Lab.
"Cybercriminals can commit financial crimes through malware, Phishing and many other techniques. So do not assume that you will be compensated by getting your money back in case you fall victim to an online financial crime. The best way to secure your financial information over the Internet is to make sure that you do not fall victim to exploitation, and for this we recommend a special software that will protect your identity (ie your personal information) and will keep sensitive personal data away from the hands of cyber criminals ".
Kaspersky Safe Money, one of the key features of Kaspersky Lab's home products, such as Kaspersky Total Security, is a suite of financial security technologies designed to protect users' online financial transactions with three key principles - a credible website ( trusted site, trusted connection, and trusted environment. The ability of this solution to effectively protect users against financial threats has been certified by many independent researchers.