A crime script analysis of transnational identity fraud: migrant offenders’ use of technology in South Korea

Abstract

The study aims to better understand transnational identity fraud utilizing crime script analysis. Drawing upon the author’s ethnographic data from transnational identity fraud cases, analysis reveals how voice phishing crimes are planned and executed by Chinese criminals. The details and procedures of each crime are documented in a “crime script.” Using routine activity theory, as well as a migration-crime nexus, this research frames voice phishing (“vishing”) as a form of transnational identity fraud anchored at the intersection of technology and migration. Furthermore, crime script analysis offers a look into not only the processes and details of these crimes, as well as each phase of the offenders’ actions, but also provides insight into crime prevention strategies.