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Psychological and other persuasive mechanisms across diverse contexts are well researched, with many studies of the effectiveness of specific persuasive techniques on distinct types of human behaviour. In the present paper, our specific interest lies in the development of a generalized modular psychometric tool to measure individuals’ susceptibilit...
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... This, therefore, warrants further investigation. Social Influence predicts online fraud victimization, in line with previous studies that found the factor to positively affect online fraud victimization [42,43]. In this study, Social Influence refers to one's tendency to be influenced, manipulated and overly trusting others-a tendency that results in a higher odd of being victimized online. ...
Background
Online malicious attempts such as scamming continue to proliferate across the globe, aided by the ubiquitous nature of technology that makes it increasingly easy to dupe individuals. This study aimed to identify the predictors for online fraud victimization focusing on Personal, Environment and Behavior (PEB).
Methods
Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was used as a guide in developing the PEB framework. Specifically, three factors were identified—Self-awareness (Personal), Attitude (Personal and Environment) and Safe Practice (Behavior) as the potential predictors for online fraud victimization. A self-reporting questionnaire was developed based on the PEB framework and used to collect data targeting Malaysian adults. The study reports result from two separate datasets collected across two separate timelines. Study I involved data collection in January 2023 (n = 820) whereas Study II was conducted with a modified questionnaire from November 2023 –January 2024 (n = 629). Study I identified the online fraud victimization predictors through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and a hierarchical binary logistic regression. The dataset from Study II was used to validate the online fraud victimization model derived from Study I by executing another round of hierarchical binary logistic regression.
Results
Results from both the samples show that most of the respondents are aware of digital privacy. EFA from Study I yielded a five-factor solution with a total variance of 60.6%, namely, Self-awareness, Safe Practice, Bank Trust, Overconfidence and Social Influence. Hierarchical binary logistic regression results from both the studies were found to be consistent. Specifically, Overconfidence (β = 0.374; OR = 1.453; 95% CI [1.119, 1.887]; p = 0.005) and Social Influence (β = 0.332; OR = 1.225; 95% CI [1.077, 1.512]; p = 0.006) were found to significantly predict online fraud victimization as well as gender (β = 0.364; OR = 1.440; 95% CI [1.008, 2.016]; p = 0.045) with females exhibiting higher risks to victimization.
Implications
The emergence of Overconfidence and Social Influence as significant predictors can guide the development of targeted online fraud awareness campaigns and/or tools emphasizing critical thinking and skepticism. Policymakers can leverage this knowledge to implement regulations that reduce deceptive practices online, promote digital literacy programs, and mandate clearer consumer protections to mitigate the impact of social manipulation and overconfidence on fraud victimization.
Conclusion
This study identifies online fraud victimization predictors, hence improving our understanding of the factors behind this phenomenon—allowing for the development of effective preventive measures and policies to safeguard individuals and improve digital security. For instance, gender- specific educational campaigns can be developed to enhance awareness and equip women with strategies to detect and avoid scams. Additionally, addressing systemic factors like social norms and digital literacy gaps is crucial for creating equitable and effective solutions to reduce online fraud victimization.
... Susceptibility to Financial Scams Test (SFST). The SFST is a 12-item measure assessing one's ability to detect financial scams, drawing primarily on items from Modic et al. (2018). Participants rate items on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) 'Very unlikely to be legitimate' to (5) 'Very likely to be legitimate'. ...
With financial scams representing a growing economic burden globally, it is becoming increasingly important to understand why certain individuals are more vulnerable to them. Prior research has suggested intelligence, cognitive reflection, financial literacy, and grandiose narcissism to predict susceptibility to financial scams. However, it remains to be determined whether these factors uniquely predict scam-susceptibility, and whether cognitive reflection and/or financial literacy (grandiose narcissism) mediate (suppresses) any of the hypothesised associations. University students (N = 489) completed a 12-item scam-susceptibility assessment, several intelligence tests, a cognitive reflection test, a financial literacy test, and the narcissistic admiration and rivalry questionnaire. Negative correlations between all three cognitive factors and susceptibility to financial scams were observed. However, based on a structural equation model, only financial literacy uniquely predicted scam-susceptibility, controlling for the other factors, implying a mediating effect. This suggests that financial education programs may be beneficial for young adults in reducing scam-susceptibility.
... This suggests that there is a complex interplay of factors contributing to vulnerability and resilience among populations across these countries. Prior research has identified demographic factors (like income, age, and education), psychological traits, and risky online behavior as key contributors to victimization (Vitak et al. 2018;Modic, Anderson, and Palomäki 2018; Whitty 2020; Norris, Brookes, and Dowell 2019; Modic and Lea 2014). ...
Scams are a widespread issue with severe consequences for both victims and perpetrators, but existing data collection is fragmented, precluding global and comparative local understanding. The present study addresses this gap through a nationally representative survey (n = 8,369) on scam exposure, victimization, types, vectors, and reporting in 12 countries: Belgium, Egypt, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. We analyze six survey questions to build a detailed quantitative picture of the scams landscape in each country, and compare across countries to identify global patterns. We find, first, that residents of less affluent countries suffer financial loss from scams more often. Second, we find that the internet plays a key role in scams across the globe, and that GNI per capita is strongly associated with specific scam types and contact vectors. Third, we find widespread underreporting, with residents of less affluent countries being less likely to know how to report a scam. Our findings contribute valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the online fraud and scam prevention space.
... Research indicates that the inability of victims to recognize deceptive cues in communication often stems from underlying psychological factors like personality, self-control, impulsiveness, and need for cognition. These factors influence the cognitive effort required to process information (Frauenstein & Flowerday, 2020;Harrison et al., 2015;Holtfreter et al., 2008;Modic et al., 2018;Pattinson et al., 2011;Vishwanath et al., 2011). Cognitive models suggest that individuals with psychological characteristics predisposing them to high fraud susceptibility tend to rely on heuristic methods for decision-making. ...
... The relationship between self-control and susceptibility to fraud has produced mixed findings in the academic community. A significant body of research suggests that selfcontrol is a crucial factor in explaining susceptibility to fraud (Chen et al., 2017;Holtfreter et al., 2010;Mesch & Dodel, 2018;Modic & Lea, 2013;Modic et al., 2018;Reisig & Holtfreter, 2013;Reyns & Randa, 2020;Van Wilsem, 2013). However, other studies present contrasting views, arguing that self-control may not be as significant a predictor as previously thought (Bossler & Holt, 2010;Garrett et al., 2019;Graham & Triplett, 2017;Jones et al., 2019;Kirwan et al., 2018). ...
Understanding why some individuals are more susceptible to becoming victims of fraud is crucial for developing effective anti-fraud strategies. This study employs a machine learning approach to explore the impact of individual psychological and socio-demographic characteristics on susceptibility to fraud. The random forest (RF) models reveal that psychological factors are more influential in determining an individual's vulnerability to fraud than demographic factors. Within the RF models, feature importance analyses highlight that subdimensions of critical thinking—such as truth-seeking, open-mindedness, and cognitive maturity—along with susceptibility to persuasion, perceived benefits on risk, and self-control, are pivotal in influencing an individual’s susceptibility to fraud. These insights are critical for informing targeted interventions and enhancing the effectiveness of anti-fraud measures.
... This suggests that there is a complex interplay of factors contributing to vulnerability and resilience among populations across these countries. Prior research has identified demographic factors (like income, age, education), psychological traits and risky online behavior as key contributors to victimization(Vitak et al. 2018;Modic, Anderson, and Palomäki 2018; Monica Therese Whitty 2020; Norris, Brookes, and Dowell 2019;Modic and ...
Scams are a widespread issue with severe consequences for both victims and perpetrators, but existing data collection is fragmented, precluding global and comparative local understanding. The present study addresses this gap through a nationally representative survey (n = 8,369) on scam exposure, victimization, types, vectors, and reporting in 12 countries: Belgium, Egypt, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. We analyze 6 survey questions to build a detailed quantitative picture of the scams landscape in each country, and compare across countries to identify global patterns. We find, first, that residents of less affluent countries suffer financial loss from scams more often. Second, we find that the internet plays a key role in scams across the globe, and that GNI per-capita is strongly associated with specific scam types and contact vectors. Third, we find widespread under-reporting, with residents of less affluent countries being less likely to know how to report a scam. Our findings contribute valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the online fraud and scam prevention space.
... The general Human-Centred AI (HCAI) [71] framework seeks to maintain user autonomy through safe design practice, ensuring transparency and control over the technology using methodologies developed by the User Experience Design communities as well as methods for developing safe and dependable software from Software Engineering, certification bodies, and legislation that regulates the industry. The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) [49] provides a framework for developing persuasive and behaviour change technology for the health domain, which contains three layers, the highest of which contains seven policy categories that can be used to support the intervention (e.g. marketing, regulation, legislation, etc.) and addresses aspects relevant to the ethical application of PPT. ...
Persuasive technologies for health and wellness are designed as interventions to promote desired health behaviours using various persuasive techniques. In recent years, a growing number of persuasive interventions have been used in various health domains, including mental health, physical exercise, and healthy eating. Most of these interventions take a one-size-fits-all approach. However, studies have shown that a persuasive strategy that is successful for one person may not be effective for others, indicating that persuasive interventions should be tailored to the individual and be adaptable to the user and their specific circumstances. Research indicates that an individual’s responses to persuasive strategies can be influenced by different factors, including personal characteristics (such as personality traits, age, and gender) and contextual factors (such as time, weather, and location). This chapter discusses personalizing persuasive health interventions. It first investigates the theories deployed and the personalization dimensions used in personalizing persuasive health interventions. Then, the chapter investigates how these theories are applied in practice and the different techniques used to deploy personalized persuasive health interventions, followed by a discussion about the challenges and directions for future research in this area.
... While many studies on the relationship between personality traits and scam compliance have been conducted through the lens of the Big Five model (i.e., agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience) [5][6][7][8], others have focused on specific personality traits targeted by fraudsters, using influence and persuasion techniques, to deceive potential victims [2,4,9]. Building on this work, Modic et al. [10] developed a brief 30-item Susceptibility to Persuasion-II (StP-II-B) scale to assess 10 personality traits that have shown to play a role in scam compliance, based on social psychological and consumer behaviour theories. Each trait is assessed in a respective subscale with three items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). ...
... While the StP-II-B has been used to study scam compliance in various contexts, such as Internet fraud [10], auction fraud [22], investment fraud [23], and health scams [12], available validity evidence for this scale is limited to the initial validation by the scale developers. Using a general population sample of 278 Americans and Indians, they reported a good fit of the pre-specified 10-factor model and adequate reliability with Cronbach's α ranging from 0.75 to 0.91 for the subscales [10]. ...
... While the StP-II-B has been used to study scam compliance in various contexts, such as Internet fraud [10], auction fraud [22], investment fraud [23], and health scams [12], available validity evidence for this scale is limited to the initial validation by the scale developers. Using a general population sample of 278 Americans and Indians, they reported a good fit of the pre-specified 10-factor model and adequate reliability with Cronbach's α ranging from 0.75 to 0.91 for the subscales [10]. Nevertheless, relying solely on a single validation study is insufficient to establish a strong body of evidence supporting the use of a scale [24]; hence, the StP-II-B needs to be validated with other samples. ...
Measurement tools that can assess personality traits rendering people more susceptible to engagement with and compliance in scams can help identify at-risk populations. The brief, 30-item version of the Susceptibility to Persuasion-II (StP–II–B) scale is a recently developed instrument for assessing 10 personality traits that play a role in scam compliance; however, psychometric evidence supporting the use of this scale is limited. This study aimed to validate the StP–II–B by examining its internal consistency reliability, factor structure, as well as age- and gender-related measurement invariance with a sample of 1287 Canadians aged 16 years and older. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 10-factor structure identified in previous research. Good internal consistency reliability was obtained for each of the 10 subscales. This 10-factor structure was found to be invariant across age and gender at configural, metric, and scalar levels, suggesting that the StP–II–B was conceptualized in the same way across age and gender and that meaningful comparisons of factor scores could be made. Age and gender differences were found in most factors, with younger individuals and men scoring higher than older individuals and women. This study supports the use of the StP–II–B as a valid and reliable scale for measuring personality traits associated with scam compliance in the Canadian general population and offers insights into age and gender cohorts that may be at higher risk of scam victimization.
... Therefore, other measures of financial risk within the general population (e.g. Financial Exploitation Vulnerability Scale (Lichtenberg et al. 2021) and Susceptibility to Persuasion Scale (Modic et al. 2018)) may lack appropriate scope. Although differences in cyberscam risk factors for those with and without ABI are not yet conclusive, different scamtype prevalence rates likely support this notion. ...
Background Although individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) may be vulnerable to cyberscams, the lack of existing measures documenting cybersafety behaviours in people with ABI limits our understanding of ABI-specific risk factors, the frequency of this problem, and the ability to evaluate evidence-based interventions. The CyberABIlity Scale was developed to assess vulnerability in people with ABI via self-rated statements and practical scam-identification tasks. This study aimed to develop and refine The CyberABIlity Scale through feedback from clinicians and people with ABI. Methods Scale feedback was collected via three rounds of clinician surveys (n = 14) using Delphi methods and two rounds of cognitive interviews with participants with ABI (n = 8). Following each round, feedback was quantitatively and qualitatively summarised, and revisions were made accordingly. Results Key revisions included removing 12 items deemed irrelevant. Instructions and rating scales were revised to improve clarity. Cognitive interviews identified 15 comprehension errors, with further revisions made to support response clarity for participants with ABI. Clinicians and participants with ABI endorsed the content and face validities of The CyberABIlity Scale. Conclusions Following further validation, The CyberABIlity Scale has the potential to be an effective screening measure for online vulnerability for people with ABI within clinical and research settings.
... On the other hand, Judges, et al. [50] discovered the characteristics linked to individual psychological variations that make people more susceptible to being deceived by deceptive communication. Research by Modic and colleagues has highlighted individual differences in scam compliance from the standpoint of persuasiveness susceptibility and wider theoretical connections with social influence Modic, et al. [51]. Xu, et al. [52] found that males had a scam rate of 17.32% while females had a rate of 13.19% in a university. ...
Cyber-attacks and crimes are still a problem in Malaysia. COVID-19 has pushed Malaysians into the digital world more quickly. These cyberattacks may rise and affect more people. Thus, the aim of this study is to find out if there is a significant difference in the level of cyber security behaviour between males and females in the aspects of malware, password usage, phishing, social engineering and online scamming in Malaysia. An online questionnaire survey was used to gather data from Malaysia and received 207 total responses. Cronbach's alpha is used to measure questionnaire items' reliability. A t-test is used to determine the differences between male and female cyber security behaviour. The results show that there is no significant difference between males and females in four aspects out of five, which are malware, password usage, phishing and social engineering. There is a significant difference between males and females in the aspect of online scams. This research helps those who formulate education policies by determining that there is no noticeable gender difference. Men should get the same level of education and training as women. The findings also demonstrate that women's awareness of technology is increasing.
... Mobile application Costa, 1987, 1989;Bandura, 2002;Fogg and Fogg, 2003;Midden et al., 2008;Booth and Grant, 2009;Brynjarsdóttir et al., 2012;Deterding, 2012;Gardner et al., 2012;Matthews et al., 2016;Adaji, 2017;Orji et al., 2017bOrji et al., , 2019bAltmeyer et al., 2018;Hofstede and Milosevic, 2018;Modic et al., 2018;Mora et al., 2019;Aldenaini et al., 2020;Alslaity andTran, 2020a, 2021;Feroz et al., 2021;Mazeas et al., 2022;Oinas-Kukkonen et al., 2022Game Goldberg, 1999O'Keefe, 2013;Heath, 2014;Busch et al., 2015;Anagnostopoulou et al., 2018;Orji and Moffatt, 2018;Orji et al., 2018b;Martin and Kwaku, 2019;Alslaity and Tran, 2020b;Klock et al., 2020;Oyebode et al., 2021b;Arden-Close et al., 2022;Ghorbani and Semiyari, 2022 Web application Goldberg et al., 2006;Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa, 2008;Gardner et al., 2012;Nacke et al., 2014;Orji et al., 2017a;Abdullahi et al., 2018;Feroz et al., 2021;Alqahtani et al., 2022;Jankovič et al., 2022General Bassili, 1996Jia et al., 2016;Jones and Simons, 2017;Abdullahi et al., 2019a;Monteiro-Guerra et al., 2020 Short messages . ...
... Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa, 2008;Cugelman, 2013;Nacke et al., 2014;Adaji, 2017;Orji et al., 2017aOrji et al., , 2018aAnagnostopoulou et al., 2018;Orji and Moffatt, 2018;Abdullahi et al., 2019b;Jankovič et al., 2022;Mulchandani et al., 2022 General healthGoldberg, 1999;Cialdini, 2001;Fogg and Fogg, 2003;Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa, 2009;Brynjarsdóttir et al., 2012;Deterding, 2012;Gardner et al., 2012;Orji et al., 2014Orji et al., , 2019aMatthews et al., 2016;Altmeyer et al., 2018;Hofstede and Milosevic, 2018;Martin and Kwaku, 2019;Mazeas et al., 2022;Oinas-Kukkonen et al., 2022 Physical activityCosta, 1987, 1989;Bandura, 2002;Andrew et al., 2007;Midden et al., 2008;O'Keefe, 2013;Orji et al., 2017bOrji et al., , 2019bModic et al., 2018;Mora et al., 2019;Alslaity and Tran, 2020a Healthy eatingGoldberg et al., 2006;Knowles et al., 2014;Martin and Kwaku, 2019;Klock et al., 2020;Feroz et al., 2021 Mental healthBassili, 1996;Booth and Grant, 2009;Barratt, 2017;Aldenaini et al., 2020 GamingAnagnostopoulou et al., 2019; Oyebode et al., 2021b Sustainability Abdullahi et al., 2018; Alslaity and Tran, 2021 eCommerce Jalowski et al., 2019; Alqahtani et al., 2022 Others Busch et al., 2015; Oyebode et al., 2021a ...
... Hofstede's cultural dimensions(Hofstede and Milosevic, 2018) Jia et al., 2016;Orji et al., 2017a;Modic et al., 2018;Monteiro-Guerra et al., 2020;McCrae and Costa, 1987;Hofstede and Milosevic, 2018 Stages of change This dimension considers users' difference based on their intention to change behavior• Transtheoretical Model (TTM)(Heath, 2014) Oyibo et al., 2019;Mulchandani et al., 2022;Oyebode and Orji, 2022 ...
Persuasive technologies are designed to change human behavior or attitude
using various persuasive strategies. Recent years have witnessed increasing
evidence of the need to personalize and adapt persuasive interventions to various
users and contextual factors because a persuasive strategy that works for one
individual may rather demotivate others. As a result, several research studies
have been conducted to investigate how to eectively personalize persuasive
technologies. As research in this direction is gaining increasing attention, it
becomes essential to conduct a systematic review to provide an overview of
the current trends, challenges, approaches used for developing personalized
persuasive technologies, and opportunities for future research in the area. To
fill this need, we investigate approaches to personalize persuasive interventions
by understanding user-related factors considered when personalizing persuasive
technologies. Particularly, we conducted a systematic review of 72 research
published in the last ten years in personalized and adaptive persuasive systems. The
reviewed papers were evaluated based on dierent aspects, including metadata
(e.g., year of publication and venue), technology, personalization dimension,
personalization approaches, target outcome, individual dierences, theories and
scales, and evaluation approaches. Our results show (1) increased attention toward
personalizing persuasive interventions, (2) personality trait is the most popular
dimension of individual dierences considered by existing research when tailoring
their persuasive and behavior change systems, (3) students are among the most
commonly targeted audience, and (4) education, health, and physical activity are
the most considered domains in the surveyed papers. Based on our results, the
paper provides insights and prospective future research direct