Financial Fraud against Older People in Hong Kong: Assessing and Predicting the Fear and Perceived Risk of Victimization
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Elder Financial Fraud
1.2. Perspectives
1.2.1. Vulnerability Perspective
1.2.2. Victimization Perspective
1.2.3. Social Integration Perspective
1.2.4. Community Policing Perspective
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sampling Techniques and Data Collection Procedure
2.2. Participants
2.3. Measures
2.4. Analytic Plan
3. Results
3.1. Victimization of Fraud
3.2. Predicting Fear of Fraud Victimization
3.3. Predicting Perceived Risk of Fraud Victimization
4. Discussion and Implications
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variables | N | % |
---|---|---|
Gender | ||
Male | 278 | 26.2 |
Female | 783 | 73.8 |
Age | ||
65–69 | 137 | 13.0 |
70–74 | 180 | 17.0 |
75–79 | 222 | 20.9 |
80–84 | 294 | 27.7 |
85–89 | 155 | 14.6 |
90 or above | 73 | 6.9 |
Education level | ||
No schooling/pre-schooling | 388 | 36.6 |
Primary | 422 | 39.8 |
Secondary | 203 | 19.1 |
Tertiary | 48 | 4.5 |
Monthly income (in Hong Kong Dollars) | ||
<1000 | 30 | 2.8 |
1000–1999 | 251 | 23.7 |
2000–2999 | 247 | 23.3 |
3000–4999 | 358 | 33.7 |
5000–9999 | 133 | 12.5 |
10,000–19,999 | 30 | 2.8 |
≥20,000 | 8 | 0.8 |
Living arrangements of the elderly | ||
Living alone | 493 | 46.9 |
Living with spouse | 238 | 22.6 |
Living with son or daughter | 182 | 17.3 |
Living with spouse and children | 91 | 8.7 |
Living with other relative or domestic helper | 47 | 4.5 |
Level of activities of daily living impairment | ||
Level 1 | 987 | 93.0 |
Level 2 | 61 | 5.7 |
Level 3 | 5 | 0.5 |
Level 4 | 8 | 0.8 |
Relative health when compared with peers | ||
Much worse | 21 | 2.0 |
Worse | 172 | 16.2 |
Similar | 395 | 37.2 |
Better | 361 | 34.0 |
Much better | 111 | 10.5 |
Fraud victimization experiences | ||
Recent victimization | ||
No | 777 | 73.2 |
Yes | 284 | 26.8 |
Any monetary loss in the most recent event | ||
No | 462 | 77.6 |
Yes | 133 | 22.4 |
Lifetime victimization | ||
No | 466 | 43.9 |
Yes | 595 | 56.1 |
Victimization by Type of Fraud. | N | % |
---|---|---|
Prizes and Sweepstakes | 137 | 12.9 |
Investments | 59 | 5.6 |
Charity contributions | 62 | 5.8 |
Home and automobile repairs | 69 | 6.5 |
Loans and mortgages | 117 | 11.0 |
Health, funeral, and life insurance | 51 | 4.8 |
Health remedies | 131 | 12.3 |
Travel scam | 29 | 2.7 |
Employment scam | 73 | 6.9 |
Phone scam | 293 | 27.6 |
Home visiting scam by disguised fraudster | 66 | 6.2 |
Spiritual blessing scams | 40 | 3.8 |
Drug-laced perfume scam | 24 | 2.3 |
Others | 50 | 4.7 |
Any type of fraud | 595 | 56.1 |
Fear | Perceived Risk | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | OR | (95% CI) | Adjusted R2 | ∆R2 | OR | (95% CI) | Adjusted R2 | ∆R2 |
Demographic variables | 0.045 | 0.045 | 0.01 | 0.01 | ||||
Female | 1.99 * | (1.44–2.75) | 1.06 | (0.77–1.45) | ||||
Age | 0.78 ^ | (0.58–1.04) | 0.89 | (0.67–1.18) | ||||
Primary Education | 1.11 | (0.81–1.52) | 1.23 | (0.91–1.68) | ||||
Secondary Education | 0.81 | (0.55–1.20) | 1.09 | (0.74–1.59) | ||||
Monthly Income | 0.96 | (0.86–1.08) | 1.07 | (0.95–1.20) | ||||
Two or more children | 1.05 | (0.77–1.43) | 1.22 | (0.90–1.66) | ||||
Vulnerability | 0.048 | 0.003 | 0.015 | 0.005 | ||||
ADL impairment | 1.43 | (0.84–2.46) | 0.91 | (0.54–1.54) | ||||
Health compared with peers | 1.10 | (0.78–1.57) | 0.92 | (0.66–1.30) | ||||
Living alone | 0.75 ^ | (0.57–1.00) | 1.08 | (0.82–1.42) | ||||
Having friends/relatives | 1.09 | (0.83–1.43) | 0.87 | (0.66–1.13) | ||||
Friends | 0.96 | (0.73–1.26) | 0.83 | (0.63–1.08) | ||||
Neighbors | 0.95 | (0.72–1.25) | 0.98 | (0.75–1.29) | ||||
Victimization | 0.095 | 0.047 | 0.042 | 0.027 | ||||
Victimization at a low level | 1.42 * | (1.05–1.93) | 1.62 * | (1.20–2.19) | ||||
Victimization at a high level | 2.15 * | (1.46–3.16) | 2.28 * | (1.58–3.28) | ||||
Financial loss | 2.12 * | (1.33–3.39) | 1.03 | (0.69–1.54) | ||||
Social integration | 0.099 | 0.004 | 0.065 | 0.023 | ||||
Being a member of elderly center | 0.86 | (0.53–1.41) | 0.43 * | (0.26–0.69) | ||||
Being a member of neighborhood watch | 1.06 | (0.75–1.49) | 0.87 | (0.62–1.21) | ||||
Watching crime prevention programs | 1.23 | (0.59–2.55) | 2.08 ^ | (0.97–4.48) | ||||
Participating in crime prevention activities | 1.39 * | (1.01–1.91) | 0.92 | (0.67–1.27) | ||||
Satisfaction with the police | 0.117 | 0.018 | 0.093 | 0.028 | ||||
Police fairness and integrity | 0.82 * | (0.74–0.91) | 0.80 * | (0.72–0.88) | ||||
Police effectiveness | 1.08 ^ | (1.00–1.17) | 1.13 * | (1.05–1.23) |
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Li, J.C.M.; Wong, G.T.W.; Manning, M.; Yeung, D.Y. Financial Fraud against Older People in Hong Kong: Assessing and Predicting the Fear and Perceived Risk of Victimization. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 1233. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031233
Li JCM, Wong GTW, Manning M, Yeung DY. Financial Fraud against Older People in Hong Kong: Assessing and Predicting the Fear and Perceived Risk of Victimization. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(3):1233. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031233
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Jessica C. M., Gabriel T. W. Wong, Matthew Manning, and Dannii Y. Yeung. 2022. "Financial Fraud against Older People in Hong Kong: Assessing and Predicting the Fear and Perceived Risk of Victimization" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 3: 1233. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031233