Consumer Fraud Research Articles

Routine activities and consumer fraud victimization: findings from a social survey in Chiba Prefecture, Japan

AbstractRecently, Japan has been grappling with various forms of consumer fraud. Consumer fraud victimization causes not only monetary losses but also nonmonetary costs such as emotional stress and psychological trauma. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the factors associated with the risk of consumer fraud victimization in order to identify vulnerable groups and implement suitable prevention measures. Consequently, this study aims to analyze the sociodemographic and routine activity factors associated with consumer fraud victimization risk in Japan. Drawing on data from a social survey of residents in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, this study employs a series of logistic regression models. This study demonstrates that while using social networking services is unrelated to respondents’ likelihood of experiencing consumer fraud victimization, the frequency of contacting individuals whom respondents have only met online was statistically linked to increased consumer fraud risk. Additionally, only 10.7 to 31.9% of respondents were aware of the available support services for victims of consumer fraud and related issues. This study proposes that social networking providers could aid in preventing consumer fraud by displaying warning messages when users send messages, alerting them to possible threats.

Consumer Fraud Mode by Tricking Prices through Hyperbolic and Persuasive Advertising Promotion Language

In trading activities, sometimes certain people take advantage of the situation to take as much profit as possible from consumers. What these parties do is sometimes done in deceptive ways. However, strangely, consumers are actually tempted by their products, and do not even mind their deception. This has the potential to become a legal problem because of the attempt to deceive consumers with ironic slogans and promotional language. Therefore, the purpose of this research is that the author wants to know how sales cases that occur in minimarkets and online shops have the potential to become legal problems. In addition, the author wants to know what kind of promotional language minimarkets and online shops use to manipulate the selling price so that it looks cheaper to consumers so that it has the potential to become fraud. The data collection used in this research uses observation and documentation methods. After that, the data that has been collected will be analyzed using a qualitative approach. The results show that the use of advertising promotional language can increase sales value. On the other hand, the language has the potential to become a legal case because there are elements of price fraud against consumers in accordance with Article 378 of the Criminal Code.

Tackling digital payment frauds: a study of consumer preparedness in India

Purpose This paper aims to present a study to measure “Consumer Preparedness” (CP) towards digital payment frauds by considering factors such as awareness regarding fraud risk (“Awareness”), implementation of measures (“Protection”) and actions to be taken in case of fraud (“Responsiveness”). Design/methodology/approach This study reviews existing literature to understand various typologies of digital payment fraud. The data of 372 consumers was collected using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square. CP score was calculated based on awareness score, protection score and responsiveness score. Findings The study shows that the score for the level of awareness was low, for the level of protection was moderate and for the level of responsiveness was high, leading to an overall moderate level of preparedness. Further, a moderate association was observed between demographic factors and the level of preparedness. Practical implications The authors recommend proactive and reactive measures for Central Banks regarding central fraud registry and intelligence exchange, consumer fraud vulnerability assessment model and mandating fraud risk management controls. Further, financial institutions are recommended to permit payment from registered devices only, implement strong customer authentication (including biometric authentication) and conduct periodic awareness sessions. Originality/value The existing body of knowledge does not have a model or scoring mechanism to assess the preparedness of consumers to tackle digital payment fraud. The research paper adds a classification of fraud typologies and an exploratory approach to measure the CP score.

Unveiling the Terrain of Fraud: Exploring the Association Between Physical Topography and Consumer Fraud Victimization

ABSTRACT The widespread accessibility of the internet has facilitated social connections across geographical boundaries, but it has also led to an increase in consumer fraud victimization. This study aims to elucidate the geographical variations in fraud victimization by examining the influence of physical topography. Employing a two-stage conceptual framework of consumer fraud victimization, we used a nationwide survey in mainland China (n = 36,066) to explore the impact of mountainousness indicators on fraud exposure and fraud victimization. Our findings indicate a negative correlation between mean elevation and standard deviation in elevation with fraud exposure, while displaying a positive correlation with fraud victimization. Utilizing machine learning analyses, we discovered that mountainousness indicators outperformed factors such as income, physical condition, sex, education, and employment in predicting fraud victimization. Notably, physical topography played a more prominent role in the recognition model of fraud victimization compared to fraud exposure. These findings shed light on the fact that individuals residing in mountainous areas are less prone to fraud exposure but are at a heightened risk of becoming victims once exposed. This study offers valuable insights for the development of effective anti-fraud strategies.

Perceptions of Consumer Fraud and Aging Among Older People and the Judiciary in China.

Systematic research has been conducted on the relationship between aging and consumer fraud victimization. But few empirical studies examine the reality of judicial dispute resolution in consumer fraud against older people from the perspective of older adults and judges in China. Based on 161 court rulings, this qualitative study explores the perceptions of older adults in litigation about their experiences of being defrauded in China, alongside judges' responses. Results reveal that common fraud patterns used by business perpetrators render older individuals more susceptible to fraud. Older plaintiffs strategically frame "old age" in litigation, potentially as a tactical maneuver, while also readily emphasizing the importance of procedural justice. Results further show that judges expressed either negative ageism or age-neutral discourse in response to fraud targeting older individuals. Findings highlight the need to enhance consumer education to prevent fraud and address ageist stereotypes among older people. Findings also highlight the need to encourage Chinese courts to consider individual case specifics, leading to fair judgments and the protection of older individuals from fraud while upholding their rights.

Counterfeit Product Detection using Blockchain Technology

A fraudulent practice where products that are passed off as genuine, product counterfeiting represents consumer fraud, which translates to financial losses. Transparency in supply chain management also faces a big challenge in terms of service repetition and lack of coordination. Numerous remedies have been implemented to battle counterfeiting, among them Artificial Intelligence and RFID, among others, all of which have significant issues such as incivility. This project tackles the problem by applying blockchain technology to improve counterfeit determination and assure product items’ authenticity all over the source chain. The scheme is built on blockchain encryption techniques, which promote a decentralized service for genuine authentication and duplication identification. Through the usage of QR codes and barcodes found in wireless technologies, counterfeit items are eradicated . When scanning a product’s QR or barcode with a camera scanner, the product’s unique code is linked to the blockchain, and all its complete details are stored within it. The database consists of multiple blocks, each one representing a unique product. In case of scanning, if the entered code matches with the database, a popup notification will display on the customer’s device that this product is genuine. Contrary to it, if there is no match found, means it is a counterfeit product; then a popup displays on the customer’s mobile, computer screen about the fraud transaction of the manufacturer from which points this scam is originating if the customer allows doing this action using the application . This will enable users to authenticate products independently without relying on sellers.

UCF-PKS: Unforeseen Consumer Fraud Detection With Prior Knowledge and Semantic Features

UCF-PKS: Unforeseen Consumer Fraud Detection With Prior Knowledge and Semantic Features

Buyer Beware, or Buyer Unaware? Examining the Correlates of Consumer Fraud Victimization Acknowledgment in the United States

Victims’ acknowledgment of their experiences as criminal events is a crucial first step to any criminal justice involvement. Works examining the topic have identified several factors associated with acknowledgment, including the seriousness of the offense, repeat victimization, help-seeking behaviors, and distress. Despite this, works examining acknowledgment have been restricted to interpersonal offenses, limiting understandings of whether correlates of acknowledgment can apply in other specific domains, such as for consumer fraud. Using a sample of consumer fraud victims from the National Crime Victimization Survey Supplemental Fraud Survey ( n = 411), findings indicate that distress and help-seeking increased odds of acknowledgment, while repeat victimization was not associated with acknowledgment. Findings are discussed in light of future directions for research and policy.

Effects of Individual and Contextual Dimensions on an Aggregate Measure of Cybervictimization

ABSTRACT Cybervictimization is a significant challenge and increasing concern. This study explored the predictors of an aggregate measure of six different types of cybervictimization, incorporating property (online consumer fraud, online identity theft), interpersonal (cyberbullying and cyberstalking), as well as phishing and malware infection crimes. An online survey was self-administered to 726 individuals, measuring sociodemographic variables and routine activity variables, stemming from Routine Activities Theory (RAT). Of the 726 individuals, 440 were already victims of at least one cybercrime. Communicating or giving personal information to unknown individuals doubled the likelihood of being victimized online. Education increased the likelihood of victimization, while higher income was associated with a lower likelihood of online victimization. These results are discussed in relation to the RAT framework and existing empirical studies that have applied it to explain online victimization.

LEGAL AND POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS IN POST-BREXIT BRITAIN: AN ANALYSIS

This article explores laws related to the protection of, and challenges to, consumer rights in the UK after its peoples’ decision to withdraw from the European Union (EU, henceforth) in 2016. Consumer protection laws are formulated and enacted to safeguard consumers from illegal and deceitful behavior of traders and salesmen, etc., and provide buyers with a range of legal guarantees and protections. These laws deal with a number of issues such as the safety of the products used by citizens, criminalize not only false advertising, but also excessive pricing, and breach of contract terms. In the UK, the main piece of consumer protection legislation is the Consumer Rights Act 2015. However, despite the existence of consumer protection laws and regulations, problems still occur, and consumers can still fall victim to fraudulent or unethical business practices. Therefore, it is important for consumers to be informed about their rights and to be vigilant in protecting themselves from scams and other forms of consumer fraud. Additionally, consumer protection is an issue that is constantly evolving as new technologies and business models emerge. For example, the rise of e-commerce and online marketplaces has created new challenges for consumer protection, as consumers may not always know who they are buying from or how to resolve disputes with online sellers. Keywords: Consumer Rights, UNO Guided Principles for consumer protection, Consumer rights and UK Legal System.

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

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.

Social Media, New Cultures, and New Threats: Impact on University Students in Bangladesh

In addition to its use as an effective means of communication, the versatility of social media—probably the most salient technological development of recent times—has gradually increased its popularity over the years. But while it has been instrumental in the emergence of numerous new cultures, the use of social media has also posed a number of threats to individuals, societies, countries, and the world as a whole. It has been revealed through various literature reviews that no specific research has been done before on social media regarding its ability to simultaneously create new cultures and new threats. Therefore, the current research was conducted among university-level students in Bangladesh keeping this issue in mind. The study was designed in light of an appropriate theoretical framework, and as part of the quantitative method, an online survey was carried out to collect data from 217 university students who are studying at different public and private universities in the country. Besides, case studies were administered to 20 students for in-depth understanding. Findings uncovered that most romantic relationships formed through social media are problematic and many people have had bad experiences with such relationships. Most participants are victims of cyberstalking and varied forms of harassment and social stigma. In spite of being an epoch-making medium for education, its use is also responsible for the poor academic performance of many students, and despite its emergence as a new platform for journalism, social media has boosted yellow journalism as well. While its use in product marketing has grown exponentially and shown considerable positive impact, consumer fraud has also become common. Furthermore, although the number of social media entrepreneurs is constantly increasing and many are succeeding, the number of failures is not insignificant. It is evident from the research that the negative impact of social media use is expanding day by day in new directions, and it is urgent to ensure its proper use for the greater good.

Litigating Corporate Human Rights Information

This article analyzes trends in litigation brought against corporate actors regarding human rights information. Such information includes, but is not limited to, statements on packaging claiming that products are “ethically sourced” and investor‐facing disclosures representing that an issuer's operations are environmentally friendly. It proceeds by outlining the sources of human rights‐related disclosures as they arise under both legal and voluntary regimes. The article then addresses the case law. Recent years have seen an increase in lawsuits involving human rights information, or lack thereof, imparted by companies. Consumer protection or consumer fraud cases are being filed, alleging that companies have either provided false and misleading information or omitted information about corporate human rights impacts and mitigation efforts. Investors are filing similar claims. The article examines the trend and considers the role of this litigation both in holding companies to their word and in providing corporate accountability for the underlying human rights abuses that false or misleading human rights information may mask. It ultimately argues that, although success at trial in such cases remains elusive, litigation is a useful and potentially growing tool for holding companies to their word regarding human rights claims. It contextualizes this litigation, arguing that other means by which companies can be held to their word should be strengthened, including public enforcement and—potentially—new disclosure and due diligence laws.

BTextCAN: Consumer fraud detection via group perception

Traditional consumer fraud detection usually relies on the relevant regulatory authorities to conduct inspections through sampling. This would be labor-intensive and inefficient. To address this issue, we conducted a statistical analysis to explore the relationship between frauds and consumer perceptions. Based on the statistical results, we propose a novel deep mixture model-based consumer fraud detection method BTextCAN to detect consumer frauds via the perception of consumer group. By designing a text convolutional attention network (TextCAN) to extract local features with contextual semantic relations from consumer reviews, our approach can mine the opinions of consumers and use their group perception to detect consumer fraud behaviors. Experimental results show that our method outperforms the baseline models. In particular, BTextCAN achieves an accuracy of 79.8% in the binary detection task and 76.5% in the multiclassification detection task. This work is the first research effort to detect fraudulent merchant behavior from consumer reviews. In addition, we have collated and made publicly available the first dataset in this area.

Study on Consumer Protection Act Awareness Among House Wives with Special Reference Nashik City.

Consumer is the king of market, therefore every seller should be take care that the consumer is not deceived, But many time it is seen that the consumer are deceived. He is the victim of numerous malpractices. This is all because of they are not aware about their rights as a consumer. The study will look at the level of awareness among house wife about consumer Protection Act, which the government has enacted to protect consumer fraud, as well as to protect consumer rights. The study is based on Primary and Secondary data. The primary data is collected from various house wives. 100 house wives selected as a sample of the study. The studies revealed that majority of house wives are not aware about Consumer Protection Act.

Hindsight Bias in Reading Cases of Consumer Issues and Fraud

Hindsight Bias in Reading Cases of Consumer Issues and Fraud

Twenty‐five years of consumer vulnerability research: Critical insights and future directions

AbstractConsumer vulnerability is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners as a social phenomenon in modern consumption‐driven societies. In an attempt to conduct a comprehensive review using credible published research materials on the topic, this study applies a big data analytics approach to analyze scholarly research with a pool of 859 articles covering the last 25 years of post‐modern marketing practices that have been a precursor to market‐driven vulnerability. This paper identifies the most influential articles, as well as the top contributing journals and authors, along with their affiliations. In addition, this study reveals four major themes of research in consumer vulnerability, namely marketing, fraud and consumers, consumer vulnerability and well‐being, ethics and vulnerable consumers, and consumption, disability and gender. These integrative perspectives will serve as a critical starting point to encourage focused theme‐based exploration in the field.

PERCEIVED TYPES, CAUSES, AND CONSEQUENCES OF FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION: NARRATIVES FROM OLDER ADULTS

Abstract We investigate the perception of financial exploitation and its causes and consequences by older adults who have firsthand experience of being exploited. Thirty-one cognitively healthy older adult participants aged 50 or older were drawn from the Finance, Cognition, and Health in Elders Study. In-depth, one-on-one interviews were conducted. Interview transcripts were analyzed using an iterative, data-driven, thematic coding scheme and emergent themes were summarized. Categories of financial exploitation included (a) investment fraud, (b) wage theft/money owed, (c) consumer fraud, (d) imposter schemes, and (e) manipulation by a trusted person. Themes emerged around perceived causes: (a) element of trust, (b) promise of financial security, (c) lack of experience or awareness, (d) decision-making, and (e) interpersonal dynamics. Perceived consequences included negative and positive impacts around (a) finances, (b) financial/consumer berhaviors, (c) relationships and trust, (d) emotional impact, and (e) future outlook. These narratives provide important insights into perceived financial exploitation and experiences.

RISK FACTORS AND IMPACT OF FINANCIAL FRAUD ON OLDER ADULTS AND DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES

Abstract In 2021, Americans age 80 and older reported median fraud losses of $1,300 per incident, substantially higher than younger age groups (Federal Trade Commission, 2022). Using data from the Federal Trade Commission’s Sentinel Fraud Complaint Database and the Area Deprivation Index, this study assesses the demographic and contextual correlates of consumer fraud victimization in the United States. Models show a positive association between living in a disadvantaged community and reporting victimization (versus reporting no losses after being targeted). Black and Hispanic consumers are significantly more likely report victimization, although non-Hispanic White victims report higher average fraud losses. Results also show that older adults are significantly less likely to report fraud victimization relative to people age 30 and younger, but older victims lose hundreds of dollars more, on average. Applying a sentiment analysis to the consumer complaint narratives, we find that compared to emotionally neutral complaints, emotionally positive and emotionally negative complaints are positively associated with reporting victimization versus reporting no losses. Gift cards are the most common method of payment demanded by fraud criminals overall, but victims who pay using cash, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency lose significantly more money, on average. To limit the impact of fraud on the aging population, consumer protection agencies need to focus their efforts on educating older adults and members of socially and economically disadvantaged communities about scams, as well as enforce greater controls on cryptocurrency exchanges and retail gift card sales.

Vulnerability and fraud: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

This study examines consumer fraud at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides novel evidence for the opportunity model of predatory victimization. Scammers have taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic shock to exploit victims who are already vulnerable and suffering. The number of fraud cases has greatly increased as COVID-19 spread across the U.S., consistent with the vulnerable-to-become-victimization hypothesis based on the opportunity model of predatory victimization. A Google Trends analysis shows that the increase in fraud and scams is attributable to victims’ increased vulnerability rather than to their awareness of fraud and increased motivation to report scams. An improvement in financial literacy is associated with the reduction of finance-related fraud and scams. Finally, we provide important policy implications to protect people from fraud victimization.