The future of fraud and economic crime in the information age

David S. Wall

Chapter 4 in Research Handbook on Fraud and Society, 2026, pp 58-78 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter reflects upon how online fraud, other economic offending, and their control have evolved, and are likely to further change during the coming years. The first part looks at the general impact of new technologies upon economic crimes. The next six sections outline the main groups of economic crimes which include precursor crimes (identity theft/fraud); virtual bank robbery (cybercrimes against financial and billing systems online); virtual stings (frauds); virtual kidnap (extortion, ransomware); virtual scams (which are mainly deceptions); virtual theft and digital burglary (cyber-piracy and ‘stealing’ informational intangibles). The argument put forward here is that as economic crimes evolve online, they will shift from being cyber-enabled to becoming cyber-dependent. The final part will, in conclusion, suggest how economic crimes may further evolve in the future and outline the challenges for governmental and non-governmental bodies for policing them.

Keywords: Economic cybercrime; Online fraud; Crime futures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035348800
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