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Consumer Fraud against Older Adults in Digital Society: Examining Victimization and Its Impact

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  • Steven Kemp

    (Department of Public Law, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Nieves Erades Pérez

    (Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, 03202 Elche, Spain)

Abstract

The European population is aging, which means more people aged sixty-five and over are at risk of financial exploitation. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding whether older persons are at greater risk of fraud than younger counterparts due to physical, economic, and social factors or, rather, whether they are slightly protected from fraud in the digital era due to less frequent online activity. Moreover, little is known about the financial, emotional, psychological, and physical impacts of fraud experiences amongst older generations in digital society. We employ multilevel modelling on a sample of EU citizens ( n = 26,735) to analyze these issues. The results show that, holding other factors constant, older adults are more likely to suffer fraud in general, but not fraud via online channels. Identity theft in which the offender attempts to trick the victim by impersonating a reputable organization is found to be particularly relevant for citizens aged sixty-five and above. Older persons are less likely to suffer a financial impact but more likely to experience anger, irritation, embarrassment, and negative impacts on their physical health from fraud in general as well as from online fraud. Many organizations aim to help protect older adults from financial crime and its impacts; thus, the results emphasize the need to understand particular fraud categories suffered by older generations and to design support programs that fully take into account the non-financial impacts of this crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Kemp & Nieves Erades Pérez, 2023. "Consumer Fraud against Older Adults in Digital Society: Examining Victimization and Its Impact," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:7:p:5404-:d:1116477
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael D. Reisig & Kristy Holtfreter, 2013. "Shopping fraud victimization among the elderly," Journal of Financial Crime, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 324-337, July.
    2. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    3. Schoepfer, Andrea & Piquero, Nicole Leeper, 2009. "Studying the correlates of fraud victimization and reporting," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 209-215, March.
    4. Nigel Martin & John Rice, 2013. "Spearing High Net Wealth Individuals: The Case of Online Fraud and Mature Age Internet Users," International Journal of Information Security and Privacy (IJISP), IGI Global, vol. 7(1), pages 1-15, January.
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    1. Patrick Joel Turkson & Joseph Gyamfi Yeboah & Doris Anim Yeboah & Paul Quaisie Eleke-Aboagye, 2024. "Mobile Money Fraud in Ghana: The Influence of Selected Demographic Variables," RAIS Conference Proceedings 2022-2024 0452, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.

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