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Caught In The Scammer’s Net: Risk Factors That May Lead To Becoming An Internet Fraud Victim, AARP Survey of Washington State Adults Age 18 and Older, 2014

This internet based survey is part of a larger national study of 11,741 Americans age 18 and older with oversamples in 12 states.  This survey finds there are 15 particular behaviors, life experiences, and knowledge attributes that may make a person more vulnerable to online fraud.  Data from this survey find: 

  • Over one in five (22%) Washington State adults who access the internet or as many as 942,681 people, engage in at least 7 of the 15 behaviors or experience life events that may put them at increased risk of being victimized by online fraud. 
  • Nearly three-quarters (73%) of all Washington State adults that access the Internet, or as many as 3.1 million people, received at least one online fraud offer in 2013. 
  • Although seventy-seven percent of Washington State adults surveyed are concerned about being scammed over the Internet, they correctly answered an average of only 5.5 out of 10 questions designed to test their knowledge about how to be safe online.

From November 23, 2013 through December 30, 2013, 739 KnowledgePanel® respondents and 230 off-panel respondents in Washington State completed the survey which resulted in 969 survey completions. This state survey has a completion rate of 71.5 percent.   For more information, contact Jennifer Sauer at jsauer@aarp.org.

 

Suggested Citation:

Sauer, Jennifer. Caught In The Scammer's Net:  Risk Factors That May Lead to Becoming an Internet Fraud Victim, AARP Survey of Washington State Adults Age 18 and Older. Washington, DC: AARP Research, March 2014. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00076.013