The survey also found that almost one person in two believes that internet security is the job of big businesses, not individuals.
Of the almost 1,400 people surveyed by government campaign Get Safe Online (GSOL), 21% felt most at risk from internet crime, compared to 16% from burglary and 11% from mugging. For 27% of the people bank card fraud was the biggest fear.
"Asked to choose the type of crime they felt most exposed to, from the list opposite, over a fifth of people said they felt most at risk from internet crime," said the GSOL report. "This figure shows a worrying increase from last year, when, asked the same question, only 17% were most concerned about e-crime and bank card fraud weighed more heavily on people’s minds [than this year]."
"As broadband take up continues to rise and an increasing number of services go online, criminals are targeting the internet more readily," said Tony Neate, managing director of GSOL. "We are constantly facing new online safety threats and it is vital people are educated about the dangers and have access to the information needed to protect themselves."
Internet crime has turned its attention to home users and away from corporate networks, according to last week's Symantec Security Report, and the GSOL survey indicates that home users may not be prepared for the attacks.
It found that 50% of people admitted to gaps in their knowledge about staying safe. A worrying 76% of respondents felt that other people should have responsibility for their online safety.
Security breaches could be serious: over half of those surveyed carry out banking on the internet. Almost a third, 32%, pay bills and 11% complete tax returns online, exposing significant amounts of valuable personal data to potential theft.
There is a significant portion of the population, though, whose fear of security breaches stops them conducting sensitive transactions online. Twenty four percent of survey respondents had been deterred from online banking, GSOL's survey found, while 21% will not perform any financial management tasks online, 18% refuse to shop online and 17% will not use the internet at all due to security fears.
"Increased fear of online crime is bad news for UK businesses, which are increasingly moving their services online, with a knock-on effect to the economy overall," said the report.