According to online safety experts Norton cybercrime is costing the UK on average £474 million a year, and an additional £619m was lost due to victims’ time dealing with the issues.
The Norton Cybercrime Report 2011 found overall, 51% of people in the UK have experienced cybercrime in their lifetime, with 19 people falling victim to cybercrime every minute.
Three times as many Brits have been victims of online crime in comparison to offline crime in the last 12 months, with only 16% of victims reporting it to the police, while nearly 9 in 10 people in the UK (88%) agree that more needs to be done to bring cybercriminals to justice.
The report also calculated the global cost of cybercrime to £71bn last year around the world.
The study identifies that 7 in 10 men between 18 and 31 years old who access the Internet from their mobile phone have experienced cybercrime in their lifetime of which 58% have became victims of cybercrime within the past 12 months in the UK.
Thirty-eight per cent of respondents have indicated computer viruses and malware as the most common and most preventable type of cybercrime in the UK, followed by credit card fraud (10%) and social network hacking (6%).
Norton lead cybersecurity advisor Adam Palmer said over the past 12 months, three times as many adults surveyed have suffered from online crime versus offline crime, yet less than a third of respondents think they are more likely to become a victim of cybercrime than physical world crime in the next year.
"With the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the staggering amount of money lost to cybercriminals, it’s important for people to think seriously about how they are protected online, otherwise they risk losing their hard-earned cash," Palmer said.
A large share of the cybercrime burden is shouldered by emerging markets, with cybercrime costing China GBP16bn, Brazil GBP9.5bn and India GBP2.5bn in the past twelve months, the report said.
While globally 10% of online adults have experienced cybercrime on their mobile phone, this figure rises to 31% in China where nearly three quarters of respondents (74%) access the Internet on their mobile phone.
