09:30 - 11:00
Sat-PS7
Chair/s:
Lukas von Flüe
Room: Floor 4 Amphitheatre 4
Lisa Spantig - Can you spot a scam? Measuring and improving scam identification ability
Anita Kopányi-Peuker - Bank choice, bank runs, and coordination in the presence of two banks
Lukas von Flüe - Heterogeneity in frequency-dependent social learning under cognitive load
Can you spot a scam? Measuring and improving scam identification ability
Elif Kubilay 1, Eva Raiber 2, Lisa Spantig 1, 3, Jana Cahlikova 4, Lucy Kaaria 5
1 University of Essex
2 Aix-Marseille University
3 RWTH Aachen University
4 University of Bonn
5 University of Nairobi
The expansion of digital financial services leads to severe consumer protection issues such as fraud and scams. As these potentially decrease trust in digital services, especially in developing countries, avoiding victimization has become an important policy objective. In an online experiment, we first investigate how well individuals in Kenya identify phone scams using a novel measure of scam identification ability. We then test the effectiveness of scam education, a commonly used approach by organizations for fraud prevention. We find that common tips on how to spot scams do not significantly improve individuals' scam identification ability, i.e., the distinction between scams and genuine messages. This null effect is driven by an increase in correctly identified scams and a decrease in correctly identified genuine messages, indicating overcaution. Additionally, we find suggestive evidence that genuine messages with scam-like features are misclassified more often, highlighting the importance of a careful design of official communication.