Poster #89 - Citizenship, Ethnicity, and Identity Theft Victimization in the Pandemic Era: Evidence from the 2021 NCVS-ITS

• In Event: Poster Session II (posters 80 – 155)

Abstract

Introduction. This study investigates whether the protective effect of
noncitizenship and the elevated risk for Hispanic noncitizens documented
in pre-pandemic identity theft data persist, attenuate, or reverse under
COVID-19 pandemic conditions. Maher (2024), using the 2018 NCVS Identity
Theft Supplement (NCVS-ITS), found that noncitizenship and Hispanic
ethnicity were each associated with lower victimization odds, but that
Hispanic noncitizens faced elevated relative risk. The pandemic
substantially altered the conditions underlying these patterns, yet no
prior work has examined whether they hold in 2021 data.

Methodology. We replicate and extend Maher (2024) using the 2021 NCVS-ITS (ICPSR
38501), collected July--December 2021. Weighted logistic regression
models past-year victimization on citizenship, ethnicity, and their
interaction, with a pooled cross-year specification formally testing
whether 2018 effects shifted in 2021. Sensitivity analyses address
different data-collection windows and 2021 instrument changes.

Findings. We anticipate that pandemic-era forced digital migration and documented
Spanish-language scam targeting attenuate the protective effect of
noncitizenship and strengthen the doubly marginalized risk for Hispanic
noncitizens, particularly for new-account fraud.

Conclusions and Implications. Findings will inform multilingual fraud-prevention
outreach, victim-services design, and theoretical understanding of how
exogenous shocks reshape victimization exposure for marginalized
populations.

Authors

• Asim Yigit Uludag, Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University

• Halil Bisgin, University of Michigan-Flint