National Survey Reveals Consumers Concerned about Safety and Security of Online Shopping
BSA Launches Educational Video to Expose Dangers of Online Auction Shopping and Provide Consumer Tips
Washington, D.C., (November 15, 2006) – A new survey conducted by Forrester Research on behalf of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) reveals that consumers are concerned with the safety and security of online auction shopping, particularly as it relates to the purchase of software.
In the past 12 months, nearly one-third of online consumers have purchased software from a retailer site. The growing demand for software and the anonymity of online shopping has created a potential environment for fraudulent sellers to peddle pirated software. According to the survey, one in five U.S. consumers who have purchased software over the past 12 months has experienced some kind of problem. Of those who had issues, 53% received software that was not what they ordered, 36% reported the software did not work, 14% immediately realized the software was pirated and 12% never received the product.
“The Internet is crawling with individuals selling pirated software to unsuspecting consumers, and consumers who purchase software or any other product from online auction sites or through email promotions run a high risk of receiving a pirated good,” stated Neil MacBride, BSA’s Vice President of Legal Affairs. “It’s critical that consumers are aware of the dangers of shopping at unknown websites or auctions sites and take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from these risks, especially during the busy holiday shopping season.”
To help individuals avoid purchasing fraudulent software online, BSA has developed a 5-minute educational video – including rare interviews with a convicted software pirate sentenced to six years in federal prison; a victim of online auction software fraud; a high-ranking Department of Justice official; a BSA spokesperson; and helpful tips on how to prevent against consumer fraud. The video educates consumers about safe online shopping while alerting potential sellers of the serious legal consequences to software piracy.
In addition, there are several risks involved with users purchasing pirated software: they may not receive upgrades, technical support, manuals or documentation if the software purchased is pirated. There is no assurance of quality or reliability of the software, and consumers expose their network to viruses and security breaches. Purchasing on an unofficial website allows your personal information to be sent to an unknown person, inviting a potential criminal into your lives. According to Danny Ferrer, the convicted software pirate featured in the BSA video, “When someone came to our site they would make their purchases online, with either a credit card or a debit card, which means that now, the person you are buying pirated software from has your credit card or debit information.” Ferrer, 36, is the former owner of www.BuysUSA.com, a large for-profit software piracy website which was taken down in October 2005 by law enforcement agents. Ferrer admitted that he defrauded customers out of more than $4.1 million of copyrighted software resulting in losses to the copyright owners of nearly $20 million. He is scheduled to begin his sentence on November 20.
Consumers Can Protect Themselves
The survey also revealed that consumers are taking proactive measures to protect themselves against the threat of online fraud. The Forrester survey indicates that 84% of online consumers have anti-virus software installed on their computers, 74% have pop-up blockers, 69% have firewall protection, 67% have anti-spyware, and 66% use spam blockers.
The BSA also offers guidelines and tips to help consumers recognize and avoid online shopping security risks including:
- Trust your instincts when purchasing software or other products online. If the price seems “too good to be true,” it probably is;
- Check the vendor’s identifying information. Look for an online and offline customer support contact;
- Do your homework—Look for a “trust mark” from a reputable organization (BBBonLine and www.bbb.org) to make sure the retailer is reliable.
Additional tips can be found on BSA’s Internet fraud website (www.bsacybersafety.com) where consumers can report personal incidents of fraud when purchasing software from Internet auction sites.
The video can also be viewed at www.bsacybersafety.com.
The results are part of an online survey on Internet shopping habits and the steps consumers are taking to protect their personal information online. Commissioned by BSA and conducted by Forrester Custom Consumer Research in late August and early September, Forrester conducted an online survey of 5,071 US individuals that are members of Survey Sampling's online panel. Forrester Research weighted the data by age, gender, income, online tenure, broadband adoption, and technology attitude to demographically represent the adult US online population. For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size (N=5,071), there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 1.4% of what they would be if the entire adult population of US households had been polled.
# # #
About BSA
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce. BSA members include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, CNC Software/Mastercam, Corel, CyberLink, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, McAfee, Microsoft, Monotype Imaging, PTC, Quark, Quest Software, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, and The MathWorks.
Contact Information
Rodger Correa
Business Software Alliance
202-530-5140
rodgerc@bsa.org
