It has been revealed that Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, recently fell victim to online fraudsters when attempting to purchase an item over the Internet. It was confirmed by Sir Tim that he tried to acquire a present online and only realised he had been the victim of an online fraud when the present failed to arrive and he realised his money had been taken. So how common is online fraud?
A recent survey revealed that around 25% of those who use the Internet in the UK have fallen victim to online fraud and online phishing scams at some point. It would appear that the situation is growing out of control and Sir Tim has been very vocal of late in his demands for the government to increase its expenditure in this area and inject more confidence into the online consumer market.
A number of issues have come to light as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web and Sir Tim in particular has taken this opportunity to air some of his grievances and concerns about the future of the online consumer market. The UK government appears committed to the new style online arena but as yet has been unwilling or unable to inject significant funds into the policing of the online consumer market.