Contact-Fraud Victimization among Urban Seniors: An Analysis of Multilevel Influencing Factors

Abstract

Fraud crime against seniors has become a serious social problem both at home and abroad. While most of the relevant research focuses on non-contact fraud against seniors, a few studies attend to contact fraud targeted at seniors. By constructing a theoretical framework of “environment–activity–fraud victimization” based on the integration of multiple theories, this study conducts a multilevel logit analysis of contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors in the downtown area of Guangzhou at the individual and neighborhood levels. The results show that contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors is influenced by individual-level factors and neighborhood-level factors, and that individual-level factors play a more significant role. More specifically, seniors with higher education levels and lower levels of self-control are more likely to experience contact-fraud victimization, while seniors who are older and healthier, and have higher household income are significantly less likely to experience contact-fraud victimization. Further, higher levels of collective efficacy and better living environments in the neighborhood significantly reduce the probability of contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors, while the percentage of the migrant population, the percentage of the aging population, and developed traffic environments significantly increase the probability of seniors experiencing contact fraud. This study confirms the feasibility of examining contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors based on the integration of theories, and enriches the research results of crime geography in terms of contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors.