Can you spot a scam? Measuring and improving scam identification ability

Lisa Spantig, Elif Kubilay, Jana Cahlikova, Lucy Kaaria and Eva Raiber
Additional contact information
Elif Kubilay: University of Essex
Lucy Kaaria: University of Nairobi

French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 from Stata Users Group

Abstract: The recent expansion of digital financial products leads to severe consumer protection issues such as fraud and scams. As these potentially decrease trust in digital services, especially in developing countries, avoiding victimization has become an important policy objective. In an online experiment, we first investigate how well individuals in Kenya identify phone scams using a novel measure of scam identification ability. We then test the effectiveness of scam education, a commonly used approach by banks and institutions for fraud and scam prevention. We find that common tips on how to spot scams do not significantly improve individuals' scam identification ability, for example, the distinction of scams from genuine messages. This null effect is driven by an increase in correctly identified scams and a decrease in correctly identified genuine messages. We interpret this as an increase in caution. In addition, we find suggestive evidence that genuine messages that contain scamlike features are more likely to be misclassified, highlighting the importance of a careful design of official communication.

Date: 2023-08-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-exp and nep-pay
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://repec.org/frsug2023/France23_Raiber.pdf presentation materials (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Can you spot a scam? Measuring and improving scam identification ability (2023)
Working Paper: Can You Spot a Scam? Measuring and Improving Scam Identification Ability (2023)
Working Paper: Can you spot a scam? Measuring and improving scam identification ability (2023)
Working Paper: Can you spot a scam? Measuring and improving scam identification ability (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:boc:fsug23:24

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