Unjustified stereotyping of online fraud victims prevents many from coming forward to report the crimes, according to Queensland University of Technology (QUT) School of Justice graduate Dr Cassandra Cross.
Dr Cross, a senior policy officer with the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Branch of the Queensland Police Service (QPS), has completed groundbreaking research in the area of online fraud targeting seniors.
She has now been awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship to examine how foreign law enforcement agencies are dealing with this issue.
"Most people don't appreciate the risks involved in internet usage and fail to take simple steps in their everyday computer usage to reduce the likelihood that they could become victims of online fraud," Dr Cross said.
In her recent research project, Dr Cross interviewed 85 seniors who had received fraudulent emails, including purported inheritance notifications, investment invitations, lottery notifications, job offers and relationship proposals.
"A focus was placed on seniors for this research project, not because they are the only victims, but because they are attractive targets for criminals, generally having access to superannuation, life savings and owning their own homes," Dr Cross said.
"Also, the impact of victimisation is far greater in that seniors have a significantly reduced capacity to recover from any financial losses."
She said a significant finding of her research was the widespread negative stereotyping of people who fell victim to online fraud as greedy, uneducated, of lower socioeconomic status and deserving of their victimisation. The stereotype was highly unjustified, Dr Cross said.
"The repercussions of this stereotype are immense. They have an effect on the reporting of online fraud, and there are consequences for victims' health and relationships. It also inhibits the ability of victims to gain the help and support they need," she said.
Since working on this project, Dr Cross has co-supervised several online fraud research projects conducted by students at the QUT School of Justice. The students' work is helping to further inform QPS research about this issue.
Dr Cross' $25,000 Churchill Fellowship will allow her to travel overseas for eight weeks from October this year, visiting numerous fraud agencies in the UK, USA and Canada.
"The overall aim of this fellowship is to be able to gain information from overseas that will improve the way we can respond to the challenges posed by online fraud in an Australian context," Dr Cross said.
"This includes preventing victimisation from occurring in the first place, but also the ways in which we respond and support individuals who do become victims."
Media contact: Michaela Ryan, QUT media officer, 07 3138 4494 or michaela.ryan@qut.edu.au
