A study on what scares and worries Americans most revealed that both identity theft and internet safety prevail over the fear of “being the victim of a mass/random shooting.”
Chapman University in Orange, California surveyed 1,500 Americans and found that the number one fear among Americans is walking alone at night, just ahead of identity theft in second and online safety (or danger) in third. Fourth and fifth were getting shot in a random shooting and public speaking, respectively.
The study separated the top five concerns from the top fears, and identity theft came in first, just ahead of corporate surveillance of online activity. Yet another internet-related worry, government surveillance of online activity, came in fourth place, just behind running out of money and just ahead of becoming sick.
Given the tremendous amount of hacks the country has seen in recent years, the public’s fears and concerns are not unwarranted.
Dr. Edward Day, who led some of the research and analysis, also found that Americans think violent crimes, such as school shootings and gang activity, are on the rise, which is actually not true—they were more common 20 years ago than today. However, cybercrimes, such as identity theft and credit card theft, are on the rise, and are much more common today than they were two decades ago.
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