Fraud 'scarier than terrorism'

Credit card fraud and the misuse of personal details is a bigger worry for New Zealanders than terrorism, a survey shows.

Computer company Unisys quizzed 500 people last month, gauging attitudes towards national, financial, internet and personal security.

Identity theft - credit card fraud or misuse of personal details - was a scarier thought than war, terrorism and epidemics.

Forty per cent of the women surveyed were concerned by the threat of a health epidemic, compared to 24 per cent of males.

South Islanders were far less worried about the threat of terrorism than Wellingtonians, who were the most concerned. Thirty-four per cent of Wellingtonians said they were "extremely" or "very" concerned. On financial security, the survey found money matters more to women than men, and to people with children. Almost half of the people aged 35-49 were worried about money, compared to 19 per cent of over-50s and 34 per cent of 18-34 year olds.

Sixty-seven per cent of the South Islanders surveyed were worried about identity theft, compared to 50 per cent of North Islanders.

Seventy-eight per cent of people in Christchurch said identity theft was extremely concerning to them.

Few men and women were particularly fearful for their personal safety, and the survey found that the older people got the less their personal safety was a major worry.

- NZPA