Fear of Fraud

An Australian survey conducted on behalf of VeCommerce found that women were more concerned about identity theft than men (ITMarketer press release (2008). The survey asked 216 Australians about their preferences and concerns when verifying their identity over the phone, such as to a bank. 45% of the men favored "biometric voice identification" versus 39% of women. Alternatives offered to respondents were "revealing your PIN" or answering "personal details" questions.

75% of the women surveyed said they were concerned about fraud and identity theft, versus only 51% of them men. Women were also more likely to report being careful about sharing personal information (69% to 47%) and that they would be willing to may more for "proactive" security (44% to 29%). Perhaps women are more concerned about fraud because it's a crime they're more willing to commit; The Economic Crime Institute (2007, pdf) reported that 36% of identity thieves were women, representing a higher proportion than for other crimes (MSNBC, 2007)

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I was tempted to commit fraud once. A company I didn't patronize mailed me a store credit card with someone else's name on it. I ended up sending it back, but I thought about whether I could get away with it. Then I thought: what the hell would I buy at "Dress Barn"?

I'm really not that afraid of identity theft, and I think it's because I have gone through the credit card charge challenge process. It wasn't that bad or inconvenient. I actually ended up feeling guilty, because it turned out that it was a valid charge. I ended up causing a lot of trouble (and fees) for a small business owner. I was sad.