Malaysia: security concerns arise as online shopping grows

A PayPal survey shows that mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets, become the preferred medium for online shopping, with half of respondents using these devices for ecommerce at least once a month, spending over RM200 shopping online over the last three months.

Findings also reveal that the top concerns relating to online shopping security were financial details being stolen by cyber-criminals and falling to fraud, quoted by 58% of those surveyed, followed by having to share credit card details with a website not visited before (23%), with the fear of not getting what was ordered (9% of respondents) and of receiving damaged goods (6%) still persisting among online shoppers.

However, only 11% of those who answered the survey actually encountered any form of fraudulent activity when shopping online. And although cross-border shopping was becoming increasingly popular, respondents had more concerns about security when it came to shopping from overseas websites.

The survey was conducted among more than 1,000 Malaysian adults.