Low Self-Control, Information Disclosure, and the Risk of Online Fraud

Gustavo S. Mesch; Matias Dodel

doi:10.1177/0002764218787854

Low Self-Control, Information Disclosure, and the Risk of Online Fraud

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This study investigates the risk of being a target of an attempt at fraud through email by assessing the role of low self-control, online activities, and the disclosure of personal information. A secondary analysis of the 2014 U.S. “Caught in the Scammers’ Net”, a national survey of online victimization (N = 1,539), indicates that those with low self-control and individuals who engage in online activities are more likely to disclose personal information online. The risk of being targeted with a fraudulent offer is also associated with low self-control and online routine activities. Responding to a fraudulent offer is associated with disclosing personal information online and low self-control. Taken together, our empirical evidence strengthens the central role of low self-control theory.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1356-1371
Number of pages	16
Journal	American Behavioral Scientist
Volume	62
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218787854
State	Published - 1 Sep 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the excellent comments from Rana Abbas, Inbal Lam, Monica Whitty, Wenhong Chen, Anabel Quan-Haase, and anonymous reviewers. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Financial support for this research was received from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Israel and the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Haifa.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 SAGE Publications.

Keywords

disclosure of personal information
online fraud victimization
self-control
victimization targets

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Cultural Studies
Education
Sociology and Political Science
Social Sciences (all)

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10.1177/0002764218787854

Cite this

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abstract = "This study investigates the risk of being a target of an attempt at fraud through email by assessing the role of low self-control, online activities, and the disclosure of personal information. A secondary analysis of the 2014 U.S. “Caught in the Scammers{\textquoteright} Net”, a national survey of online victimization (N = 1,539), indicates that those with low self-control and individuals who engage in online activities are more likely to disclose personal information online. The risk of being targeted with a fraudulent offer is also associated with low self-control and online routine activities. Responding to a fraudulent offer is associated with disclosing personal information online and low self-control. Taken together, our empirical evidence strengthens the central role of low self-control theory.",

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Low Self-Control, Information Disclosure, and the Risk of Online Fraud

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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