“Is This Item Still Available for Sale?” Online Deception and Situations Conducive to the Progression of Online Advanced Fee Fraud Attempt

• In Event: Online and Offline Criminogenic Factors that shape Computer User’s Susceptibility to Cybercrime Victimization

Abstract

Online fraud is a growing concern among computer users in the U.S. and around the world. Still, only scant criminological research has generated insights around online scammers, their interactions with targets, and the deceptive strategies they employ when deceiving their victims. Addressing this gap, we adopt the criminal event perspective and explore whether online fraudsters present consistent verbal and non-verbal cues of urgency throughout the progression of an online advance fee fraud attempt. Integrating theoretical claims from the “Interpersonal Deception Theory” with situational explanations of crime, we hypothesize that fraudsters’ initial presentation of verbal cues of urgency is followed by consistent presentation of both verbal and non-verbal cues of urgency. Moreover, we predict that the consistent presentation of urgency cues is more pronounced when situations conducive to online fraud are confirmed. To test our hypotheses, we posted a large number of “for sale” advertisements designed to attract illegitimate users of a major classified website in the U.S., and interacted with online fraudsters who responded to our ads over email. Findings indicate that online fraudsters who employed verbal cues of urgency in their initial interaction with victims displayed both verbal and non-verbal cues of urgency throughout the progression of an online advance fee fraud attempt. Nevertheless, the conformation of situations conducive to fraud enhanced online fraudsters’ presentation of consistent verbal and non-verbal cues of urgency throughout the progression of the criminal event.

Authors

• David Maimon, University of Maryland

• Mateus Renno Santos, University of Maryland

• Youngsum Park, Yahoo