COVID-19 and cyber fraud: emerging threats during the pandemic

Katelyn Wan Fei Ma and Tammy McKinnon

Journal of Financial Crime, 2021, vol. 29, issue 2, 433-446

Abstract: Purpose - The emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has threatened physical and mental health, and changed the behaviour and decision-making processes of individuals, organisations, and institutions worldwide. As many services move online due to the pandemic, COVID-19-themed cyber fraud is also growing. This article explores cyber fraud victimization and cyber security threats during COVID-19 using psychological and traditional criminological theories. It also provides a COVID-19-themed cyber fraud typology using empirical evidence from institutional and agency reports. Through organizing COVID-19-themed cyber fraud into four different categorizations, we aim to offer classification insights to researchers and industry professionals so that stakeholders can effectively manage emerging cyber fraud risks in our current pandemic. Design/methodology/approach - The approach the study take for this conceptual paper is typology.

Keywords: Financial crime; Cybercrime; Scams; Cyber security; COVID-19; Cyber fraud; Infodemic; Pandemic; Policing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jfcpps:jfc-01-2021-0016

DOI: 10.1108/JFC-01-2021-0016

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