Half of online shoppers lax over security

Almost half of online shoppers do not check the website they are buying from is secure, pollsters YouGov found.

Of those planning to do some Christmas shopping online, nearly half said that they did not check that their payment information was encrypted.

More than two-thirds said that they did not check whether the website had a contact address or telephone number - leaving them with no redress if goods did not arrive.

A small minority (seven per cent) of shoppers said they took no measures at all to stay safe.

Shoppers in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East were most alive to the risks of buying online, with 62 per cent checking for encryption features, compared to 43 per cent in London.