73 percent Chinese say they committed fraud

BEIJING - A majority of Chinese people — 72.9 percent — admit to have committed fraud, because the risk and punishment of fraud are “not as severe as they used to be”.

The report released Tuesday by China Youth Daily is based on a survey of 2,485 internet users.

Most of the respondents said such frauds occur due to many factors such as people judging others by their income, and the benefits gained through fraud and lenient treatment of those who are found guilty of fraud.

Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Fudan University, said: “In an open and changing world, the risks and punishment of fraud are not as severe as they used to be. And this is also to do with a lack of scruples, lack of faith and lack of honesty.”

The survey also showed as many as 61.7 percent of respondents choose to tolerate it when they find out that others have cheated.

This is because they feel it is useless to report the fraud. In addition, nearly half of the respondents said they were worried about acts of revenge by the perpetrators.