According to the Atlas VPN investigation, US citizens worry much more about getting hacked than being murdered.
As many as 72% of respondents frequently or occasionally lose sleep over having their personal, credit card, or financial information stolen by hackers.
The second most agonising crime that Americans tend to dwell on is being a victim of identity theft, at 66%. Identity theft is a type of cybercrime where criminals steal the victims’ personal information and commit fraud in the victim’s name.
Rachel Welch, chief operating officer of Atlas VPN, shares her thoughts on why consumers are so worried about cybercrime: “With headlines around the world being dominated by government security breaches, large enterprise data leaks, and similar cybersecurity issues, the concerns seem to be justified.”
Fraudsters can withdraw money, take out loans, empty checking accounts, and commit many other crimes by stealing a person’s identity. The top two spots reveal that cybercrime causes the lion’s share of worries for US citizens.
Next up, data sheds light on how individuals are also troubled by thoughts about losing their physical goods. Over 35% of those surveyed reported that they often dwell on their home being burglarized when they are not there (35%) and having their car stolen or broken into (34%).
Finally, 24% of Americans are anxious that they can get mugged, while 17% of individuals report that they worry about getting murdered.