Brits are happy to lie when they know they can get away with it, finds report

If you knew you could get away with a little white lie would you tell it?

Four in ten Brits have revealed that they would happily be dishonest if they thought they couldn’t be found out.

Researchers who carried out a study of 2,000 adults found that half of us would pocket any cash left behind at an ATM, while 53 per cent said they would stay silent if they were given extra change in a shop.

It also emerged that the average Brit tells at least one lie a day, despite 78 per cent believing that honesty is the most important quality in someone.

One third even confessed they would keep £250,000 that didn’t belong to them, so long as they knew they could get away with it.

Ray Howard, detective on The Heist, a Sky One series that commissioned the research to mark the launch of the show, said: ”It is interesting to see how people are more willing to lie if they thought they could get away with a cash reward.

”While most people will refrain from doing things, they know are unacceptable, the difference between how honest we believe we are, and the number of dishonest acts we commit, shows we never know how we will react when you are put in a certain situation.”

Despite the majority of respondents being happy to claim cash left at an ATM, two thirds surveyed said they would hand lost items or gadgets into officials if they found it somewhere on a train or bus.