Gadgets seen as best way to tell porkies

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) More than four out of five people admit to telling little white lies at least once a day and the preferred way of being ''economical with the truth'' is to use technology such as mobiles, texts and e-mails, a survey said today.

The research by pollsters 72 Point found that ''techno-treachery'' was widespread with nearly 75 per cent of people saying gadgets like Blackberrys made it easier to fib. Just over half of respondents said using gadgets made them feel less guilty when telling a lie than doing it face to face, the study on behalf of Friends Provident found.

The workplace was a favourite location for fibbing with 67 per cent of the 1,487 respondents admitting they had lied at work.

The top lie was pretending to be ill (43 per cent) followed by saying work had been completed when it hadn't (23 per cent).

Worryingly for bosses 18 per cent said they lied to hide a big mistake. But, employers were not the only ones on the receiving end of disingenuous statements.

Just over 40 per cent said they had lied to their family or partner. Key topics to lie about were; buying new clothes or the cost of them (37 per cent), how good someone looked in something (35 percent) how much they had eaten (35 per cent) and drunk (31 per cent) and how much they weighed (32 per cent).

The survey found that while people were dishonest, most told lies with the best intentions and to spare others' feelings.

But with hi-tech gadgets on the top of many Christmas lists this year maybe everyone should cynically brace themselves for a few fibs in the New Year.

Reuters SBA DB0818