Does digital literacy help residents avoid becoming victims of frauds? Empirical evidence based on a survey of residents in six provinces of east China

Abstract

Based on 2022 survey of residents in six provinces of East China, this study suggests that digital literacy has a curbing effect on Chinese residents’ vulnerability to fraud losses, and the curbing effect is stronger among rural residents, middle-aged and elderly people, females, and people who are trained in financial education. The curbing effect is reinforced with the improvement of cognitive ability and financial knowledge and is weakened with the improvement of social trust but does not change with social networks. In addition, the curbing effect of digital literacy is the strongest in online fraud, then telecom fraud.