Statistics Canada Report on Internet Victimization

Statistics Canada has published an article in its Juristat journal on Self-reported Internet victimization in Canada, 2009:

"In 2009, the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization was conducted on a sample of Canadians aged 15 years and older living in the provinces. For the first time, the GSS collected information from Canadians about their perceptions and experiences of victimization on the Internet, with a particular focus on cyber-bullying, Internet bank fraud and problems encountered with making online purchases ..."

The most common form of cyber-bullying involved receiving threatening or aggressive e-mails or instant messages, reported by 73% of victims. Slightly more than half (55%) of victims had been the target of hateful comments, while for about 8%, the victim's identity had been assumed by someone sending threatening e-mails.

The survey also showed that among Canadians who had used the Internet in the 12 months prior to the survey, 4% reported being the victim of bank fraud on the Internet.