Do You Do It?

So what do you do while you're on a conference call? If you're like a lot of Americans, you just might be shopping.

A Bill Me Later/Ipsos Insight survey found that more than 12 million Americans admitted to shopping online while on work-related conference calls. And don't think stereotypes. It's not just ladies shopping for new shoes and lipstick — men more frequently secret-shop than women.

Not everyone is getting away with their spending sprees, either: About 1 million people say they've been caught. Their reactions ranged from embarrassment to discussing the items they were purchasing and asking for second opinions.

The more frequent shoppers are college-educated 35- to 54-year-olds who earn more than $50,000 a year. And very few are one-timers. Of those who admit to shopping while on conference calls, 23% said they'd done so five or more times during the past year and 12% 10 or more times in the same period.

The poll was a random telephone sampling of 1,000 Americans age 18 and older.