Victims’ motivations for reporting to the ‘fraud justice network’
Open accessAbstract
It is well-established that (online) fraud has one of the lowest reporting rates across all crime categories. However, there is a large gap examining why some victims choose to report online fraud offenses. Therefore, this paper examines the under-researched group of online fraud victims who reported their crimes to authorities. Based on interviews with 80 victims across Australia, who lost at least AUD10,000 to online fraud, this paper demonstrates two motivations behind reporting: a sense of individual justice, and an altruistic notion of protecting others. The paper also highlights the negativity associated with the reporting process. The paper uses these findings to determine what can be learnt from the victims who were willing to report. It concludes with a discussion of the challenges evident in seeking to improve the confidence of victims reporting to authorities.
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Victims are driven to report by a sense of individual justice and an altruistic desire to protect others, such as by raising awareness.
“Qualitative research indicates that victims are driven to report by a sense of individual justice and an altruistic desire to protect others, such as by raising awareness (Cross 2018b).”
From Profiling consumers who reported mass marketing scams: demographic characteristics and emotional sentiments associated with victimization (2024) · cites this paper as Cross 2018b
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- Authors
- Cross, C.
- Affiliations
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Cross, Cassandra
- ORCID
- Cross, Cassandra
- Venue
- Police Practice and Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-09-20
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 550-564
- ISSN
- 1477-271X (ISSN-L)
- 1561-4263
- OpenAlex
- W2890444636
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 3.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- eprints.qut.edu.au
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Police Practice and Research (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Criminology Research Advisory Council, Australian Institute of Criminology (29-13/14)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Keywords
- online fraud, fraud reporting, individual justice, altruism, reporting procedures, victim-offender overlap
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