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| A Study on Fraud Victimization among the Chinese Elderly in the Digital Age: The Role of Internet Usage and Digital Financial Inclusion |
| LEI Xiaoyan, SHEN Yan, YANG Ling
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| China Center for Economic Research/National School of Development, Peking University |
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Abstract This study uses the nationally representative survey data of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study to empirically analyze the main characteristics of the defrauded Chinese elderly and the variations across different dimensions related to rapid digitization and aging in China. The study also assesses the factors rendering the elderly vulnerable as fraud targets, whether they suffer actual losses after being contacted, and the underlying mechanisms, particularly the role of Internet use and the development of digital financial inclusion.
First, we comprehensively portray the overall incidence of fraud exposure and actual fraud and the amount lost by the elderly; summarize the regional differences in fraud prevention ability; and provide a group portrait of elderly people who were exposed to fraud and ultimately damaged. Next, using regression analysis, we assess the role of Internet use in the elderly being approached by fraudsters and incurring related losses. We also examine the roles of individuals' traits (e.g., health status, living arrangement style, and cognitive ability) and digital financial inclusion. Finally, we perform heterogeneity analysis along the urban-rural and gender dimensions.
This study has several key findings. First, Internet use has both exposure and learning effects; the former indicates that Internet use increases the incidence of the elderly being approached by fraudsters, whereas the latter indicates that it reduces the elderly's risk of being approached by fraudsters and consequently suffering losses. Second, we construct an anti-fraud ability index to analyze the differences in the incidence of fraud exposure and actual fraud and the amount lost by the elderly across provinces and find that the anti-fraud ability of the elderly in underdeveloped provinces is significantly lower than that in developed provinces. Third, the regression analysis shows that although elderly individuals with better economic conditions are more likely to be targeted, after being approached by fraudsters, the most vulnerable groups are rural residents, women, and the less educated. Fourth, further analyses show that both individual cognitive ability and the degree of local digital financial inclusion are the key factors affecting the previous two effects of Internet use, influencing the likelihood and amount of losses the elderly incur. Finally, the results of the heterogeneity analyses show that digital technology has a greater positive effect on the female elderly and on those living in rural regions because they are more likely to lack information than their male counterparts and those living in urban regions, and the positive learning effect surpasses the negative exposure effect among these women. The development of digital financial inclusion plays a significant role in helping women but needs to be further improved in rural areas.
This study makes four main contributions. First, the current literature on elderly fraud almost exclusively focuses on the actual fraudulent situation; this study not only analyzes the actual fraudulent situation but also the incidence of fraud exposure among the elderly, thereby expanding the existing local and international literature related to the fraudulent situation among the elderly. Second, because few domestic studies focus on the relationship between the development of digital financial inclusion in the region and fraudulent exposure among the elderly, this paper supports the study of the factors influencing the exposure of the elderly to fraud. Third, this study compares the fraud prevention ability among elderly groups in each province and provides a specific portrait of the fraud-exposed and defrauded elderly, which deepens our understanding of the situation of fraud among the elderly in the digital economy. Fourth, we systematically portray the basic situation of the elderly being defrauded; the factors influencing fraud exposure; and the regional and gender differences in being exposed to fraud, actually being defrauded, and the loss amount, providing a policy grip for efforts to prevent the elderly from being defrauded and improving their financial literacy.
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Received: 22 June 2021
Published: 01 September 2022
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