Craigslist Scams and Community Composition: Investigating Online Fraud Victimization

Offline, crime and resulting victimization is not individual incidence. It is also hampered or encouraged by the community in which it is situated. Are community characteristics relevant for victimization online? This paper examines the prevalence of Craigslist-based (automobile) scams across 30 American cities. Our methodology analyses historical scam data and its relationship with economic, structural, and cultural characteristics of the communities that are exposed to fraudulent advertising. We find that Craigslist scams are not random, but targeted towards specific communities. The resulting policy insight is for creating public awareness campaigns addressing educated white males, as they are the most vulnerable.