RT Article
T1 Empty Streets, Busy Internet: A Time-Series Analysis of Cybercrime and Fraud Trends During COVID-19
JF Journal of contemporary criminal justice
VO 37
IS 4
SP 480
OP 501
A1 Kemp, Steven
A2 Buil-Gil, David
A2 Moneva, Asier
A2 Miró Llinares, Fernando
A2 Díaz-Castaño, Nacho
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/178198509X
AB The unprecedented changes in routine activities brought about by COVID-19 and the associated lockdown measures contributed to a reduction in opportunities for predatory crimes in outdoor physical spaces, while people spent more time connected to the internet, and opportunities for cybercrime and fraud increased. This article applies time-series analysis to historical data on cybercrime and fraud reported to Action Fraud in the United Kingdom to examine whether any potential increases are beyond normal crime variability. Furthermore, the discrepancies between fraud types and individual and organizational victims are also analyzed. The results show that while both total cybercrime and total fraud increased beyond predicted levels, the changes in victimization were not homogeneous across fraud types and victims. The implications of these findings on how changes in routine activities during COVID-19 have influenced cybercrime and fraud opportunities are discussed in relation to policy, practice, and academic debate.
K1 Crime Statistics
K1 Victims
K1 Cybersecurity
K1 ARIMA
K1 Coronavirus
K1 Crime trends
DO 10.1177/10439862211027986