Poll shows cybercrime Americans' most feared crime

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Cybercrime has become the most feared crime in the United States, with two thirds of American adults worrying about becoming victims, a survey showed Monday.

The Gallup poll showed that 67 percent of those surveyed worry about having their personal, credit card or financial information stolen by computer hackers, while 66 percent worry about identity theft.

The fear of cyber-related crimes towers significantly over conventional crimes, such as the fear of having one's car stolen or broken into, which came in third at 38 percent.

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One in four of those polled said they or a member of their household has had personal information stolen by hackers in the past 12 months, while 16 percent said they or a family member has had their identity stolen in the same time period, the poll found.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an average 280,000 complaints each year were made about cybercrimes between 2000 and 2016.

RJ Reinhart, who participated in the poll, said multiple high-profile cybercrime cases in recent years have compounded fear in US society.

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Major companies, including credit reporting agency Equifax, retailers Target and Home Depot, web giant Yahoo and health insurer Anthem, have all fallen victim to large-scale data breaches.

Gallup has been collecting data on concerns over cybercrimes in the US since 2009, and found that it has stayed consistent, ranging from 66 to 70 percent.

The 2017 poll was conducted between October 5 and 11 based on telephone interviews with 1,028 adults.

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency