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According to the electronic transaction company, CyberSource, over half of shoppers are now taking more precautions when shopping online as a result of reports on cybercrime. 84% say that they now look for signs that a page is secure before submitting personal information.

"A significant percentage of cybercrime today can be avoided by relatively

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simple precautions such as never giving out personal information in response to an email. News stories today can and do cause alarm amongst consumers but if this is causing them to be more careful in their online buying, then the outcome is fine," says Simon Stokes, managing director of CyberSource.

Fear of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud has caused 82% to shop with only well known and reputable brands, but 4% admitted that caution became avoidance, as they have ceased shopping online altogether.

Although online shopping has been growing in the last year, half of those questioned in the research claim that they had never shopped online, contradicting figures from a Nielsen Online report released earlier this week, claiming 85% of the world's population now shop online.