1 in 2 Singaporeans fear for their security when shopping online: survey

Over 3 in 10 have received damaged goods.

Majority of Singaporeans now shop online, and the local eCommerce market is set to grow to SGD$4.4 billion by 2015. However, more than 1 in 2 shoppers remain concerned that their financial details will be stolen by cybercriminals.

A survey by PayPal showed that 57% of respondents fear becoming victimized by cybercriminals, while 20% are concerned with sharing credit card details with unknown sites. Another 11% worry about not getting their orders, while 7% are wary of receiving damaged goods.

However, while online security was a top concern for more than half the respondents, less than a tenth (9%) had actually encountered any form of fraudulent activity when shopping online. Most respondents identified with not having received their items or receiving damaged physical goods after purchasing them online (36%).

“It is interesting to see that while majority of online shoppers in Singapore have not encountered fraud, there remains a deep concern about becoming a victim of cybercrime. This is something we must address so that online shoppers do not need to hold back on making purchases online due to security fears, which stifles the potential for eCommerce to grow,” said Rahul Shinghal, PayPal’s Country Manager for Southeast Asia.

Here’s more from the survey:

The survey of more than 1,000 Singapore adults underscores how online shopping is becoming more popular in Singapore, with key results showing:
· 78% of respondents shop online at least once a month.
· Shopping online on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets is becoming a preferred way to shop, with more to half of respondents (55%) shopping on these devices at least once a month.
· More than half (66%) had spent over SGD$100 shopping online over the last three months.

Greater concerns when shopping cross-border
The survey found that although cross-border shopping was becoming increasingly popular, respondents had more concerns about security when it came to shopping from overseas websites:
· Over half of respondents (55%) indicated that more than 25% of their online shopping was done internationally.
· 89% of respondents indicated that they would be more concerned about online risks when shopping from overseas websites compared to from local sites.
· More respondents felt safe purchasing digital goods[1] (62%) online compared to physical goods (54%).