Low Self-Control, Routine Activities, and Fraud Victimization

• NCJ Number: 222858
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2008 Pages: 189-220
• Author(s): Kristy Holtfreter; Michael D. Reisig; Travis C. Pratt
• Date Published: February 2008
• Length: 32 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Florida Office of the Attorney General
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using a representative sample of 922 adults in a statewide survey in Florida, this study assessed the independent effects of routine consumer activities (i.e., remote purchasing) and low self-control on the likelihood of fraud targeting and victimization.

Abstract

The findings show that greater participation in remote purchasing increased consumers' exposure to fraud targeting and increased their risk of becoming fraud victims. This demonstrates the usefulness of routine activity theory as a "general" theory of victimization risk. Study results also lend support to Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) contention that individuals who lack self-control tend to make impulsive decisions that are associated with negative life outcomes. This indicates that even though fraudsters tend to cast big nets in efforts to draw in victims, the behavior of consumers is equally important in that their failure to exercise caution and self-control places them at risk for an impulsive response to fraudster scams. The two dependent variables were fraud targeting and fraud victimization. One independent variable was low self-control, which was determined with a behavioral measure that tapped into respondents' preferences for risky behavior and immediate gratification, two dimensions of self-control identified by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990). The second independent variable was remote purchasing, which was measured by survey respondents' use of the following remote-purchasing methods during the previous 12 months: responding to a telemarketer who represented a company with which the respondent had not previously done business, purchasing something from an Internet Web site, placing an order for a product after seeing a television advertisement or infomercial, and ordering a product after receiving an unsolicited piece of mail from a company with which the respondent had not previously done business. Several sociodemographic variables were included in the multivariate analyses as statistical controls. 2 tables, 120 references, and appended population and sample characteristics