Risk Factors for Advance Fee Fraud Victimisation

• NCJ Number: 235946
• Author(s): Stuart Ross; Russell G. Smith
• Date Published: August 2011
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document; Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: AIC Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 420

Annotation

This Australian study reports on the findings of a survey designed to identify the characteristics of persons at risk for becoming victims of advance-fee fraud, in which individuals are tricked into paying money upfront ("advance fee") in order to obtain an anticipated but false financial or other benefit at a later date.

Abstract

Nearly 10 percent of those surveyed provided responses that showed they were victims of some form of advance-fee fraud. Given the substantial under-reporting of fraud, it can be assumed there was a degree of under-reporting by survey respondents. Victims of such scams tended to be older (55 years old and older). It is unclear whether this heightened vulnerability of older people resulted from greater naivety about the Internet (e.g., placing greater trust in identity information or documents provided over the Internet), lower social connectivity, or lack of knowledge about the risks associated with paying advance fees. There was also a relationship between victim status (being a victim or a non-victim) and reported income; individuals with an income over $40,000 per year were more likely to be non-victims; whereas, respondents with incomes under $20,000 were more likely to report being victims of advance-fee scams or online transaction scams; individuals with incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 were more likely to report being victims of dating scams. There was little variation in educational levels, employment status, or gender across the three forms of fraud examined: dating scams, including relationship scams; online transaction scams, including job offers, charity scams, and other online transactions; and other advance-fee scams, including lottery scams. The questionnaire was sent by Victoria Police (Australia) to 1,410 people living in Victoria who had transferred money to Nigeria using an international funds transfer service during the 12-month period from April 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008. 1 table and 30 references