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Stress drives risky online shopping, claims survey

November 19, 2018

The stress of the holidays, and the financial aspect, can spur consumers to be more careless when shopping online, reveals a McAfee survey.

The impact is especially big in New York, where 80 percent of consumers surveyed admitted to taking more risky actions.

More than half of e-commerce shoppers overall would risk buying from a potentially fake website if it meant saving some bucks, according to a press release on the data.

"For most people, the holiday shopping season is a stressful time of year, especially from a financial perspective. With added stresses and distractions, people often let their guard down when it comes to their digital security, which can lead to risky consequences,” said Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at McAfee, in the release.

States where consumers are most likely to fall victim to a cybercriminal are:
1.    New York
2.    Illinois
3.    New Mexico
4.    Kansas
5.    California

McAfee commissioned MSI-ACI to conduct the survey of 2,472 adults in the U.S. last month.